2009 09 20

The Sunday Morning Church of ATTENTION

Continuum

There was a Buddhist monk who had been meditating for months.  He knew one of the tenets of Buddhism was desire is the root of all suffering.  He also knew he could not force his desires from his mind and finally succumb to his desire. He left the ashram and went for a pizza.

At the pizza parlor when the waiter came he said,” Make me one with everything.”

The waiter chuckled.

The Yogi enjoyed the pizza, eating each slice with care, savoring it and when the bill came he gave the waiter a $20 bill for his $10 pizza.

He waited for his change, 5, 10, 20, and finally after 30 minutes caught the waiter’s eye and asked for his change.

The waiter eyed him and said, “"Change must come from within."

Our Yogi friend was looking at life from an either or point of view. He would experience liberation through releasing his desires. Before the pizza, his desires had him trapped.

But life may not be an either or situation. It is not a yes no world, but a continuum.

The more we understand the continuums we exist upon the more flexibility we have in life. More choices, greater freedoms, increased confidence. Most all virtues come from the most important virtue, patience. The more we know and understand our self and each other the greater flexibility. It’s a positive feedback loop. 

Here are four continuums we all fall within.

1-Our motivational continuum from moving towards our goals to moving away from what we don’t want. Call it attraction or repulsion.

In speaking there are those whose motivation is to move away from the fear. This may be the most popular reason people join Toastmasters. However there are those who are moving toward creating greater skills.

2- Worldview continuum. Those who believe in options or possibilities, and those who are procedural and love structure and rules. A Toastmasters meeting is very procedural, however Table Topic is wonderfully for its options. There is no right or wrong, there is time for both.

3-Proactive or reactive continuum. Are you an initiator or a wait and see. The proactive is motivated from inside, the reactor moved by what’s on the outside.

4-Specific or general continuum. Do you look at life in specifics or in general? Big broad strokes, or small exactitudes?

My wife and I have a very wonderful relations. 25 years together, and we worked together on a daily basis for over 20 years. We are opposite on each continuum.

I am a move toward and she moves away motivators. She cuts-removes hair, covers gray. I built art & buildings and now build confidence.

She loves procedure, follows recipes. I look in the frig, see what’s available and create.

I initiate, volunteer, take risks. I am an outlaw, outside the box, an entrepreneur.  She Reacts to how your hair acted, loves me to make decisions, has comments on the situation at hand.

If its go out to dinner and I say Italian, she says Pasta Primavera.   Who do you thinks orders the same thing each time and who tries something new?

We balance each other.  We cover the full continuum, we know we do, and we have fun.

 My wife and I both desire pizza, We order a pizza that is half pepperoni and half one with everything.

Namaste

Gary