Wednesday, February 9, 2011

What I am Clear (About) ..What I am Not...

"Sometimes the very thing you are looking for is found in the very thing you weren't".~ YKWTD (You Know What To Do)




Decisions,decisions, decisions.  Will they ever go away?


Well if you are over the age of 5, no.  Although I say this somewhat in cheek, making decisions is hard work.  It may not seem that way say if someone is deciding "Is he the one" or "Do I take this job although it means moving away from my family"  or do I want mayo AND mustard"?  Some decisions are harder to make (or keep) then others.


Time and experiences make some decisions really easy to make and implement without nary a bump.


And then there are the others...


I have to make somewhat painful decisions; this I am clear.


What I am not is do I want to do this? Will I do it.


What I am clear about is I need to do things for my well being.


What I am not is how.


What I am very clear about is that my present situation needs a radical change.


What I am not is not can I be radical but WILL I be radical.


I've not doubted for a minute my returning home to my beloved city of New Orleans was a right one, I now doubt whether long time I will stay.  And it is not that I don't want to, but I've changed.  The city is changing, some of it very good and badly needed, others well, it is the same old song just repackaged.


Mind you as I say this that it is not you who are not from here, never visited here and only know what the news tell you , which is so blown out of proportion, bad schools, extreme poverty, over the top crime  yada yada yada, it is not anywhere near that.


We have to remember even with so called  "traditional" news the "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality rules.  Here is a radical concept: New Orleans is really no different then many major cities (and minor ones, ttowns or boroughs) in its ills.  But it true Franco-Lousiane manner it is blown way out of proportion.


What it is is a place steel reeling trying to restore its equilibrium after the most devastating (un)natural disaster in the history of this country & having carpetbaggers, visionaries, the young seeking adventures, hipsters, con artists, idealist & people rife on exploitation who have jumped into this restoration gumbo with little thinking of what or how to go about it without destroying the city.


And in this flux, I am clear that it is going to be a heck of a lot more work involved and more  hands involved working extraordinarily, exceptionally hard to do the almost near impossible, but possible  retaining/maintaining a measure of control.  In every aspect of this we can sometimes wrecking havoc on our health & well being; of not knowing or seeing the way out; wanting to be as healthy, as autonomous, as fully engaged as we need to be while the world once known is fragmented.  Of putting pieces back together or really fully have what is needed so one can indeed be independent, contributing community.




Or individual...


The way is not always clear.


Sometimes things gets muddled, we may have to redirect, revisit the choices and then step out...


Radically.


Understand I am not exercising the often futile sport of what is wrong with New Orleans or what is wrong with me... This is clear.


What is not is how to stop this sick sport from continuing.


I am clear that while undergoing the worst time of the worst time of my life, I am happy that I am not gone backwards in my work on reaching a healthy weight.  Truly there is plenty of room for improvement, but I am good with that...


What is not is will it happen here? Can I do more to reduce even more the chronic stress that continues to keep my blood pressure high?


The easy answer is yes; 'cept it ain't that easy.  


On paper the answer are definitive; get my economic circumstance improved and the rest will (truly) fall into place...Duh..


What is not clear is How? Where? When?


I am at the conclusion there is some huge really bad cosmic joke being played, but I did not get the punchline. 


 And the joke is being played over & over until I get it.


Alright! already!


If determination, fortitude, resilience, effort, heart, drive was money I would be wealthy enough to rival Gates, Winfrey or Forbes. And telling me I am not alone doesn't help.  It stresses me more just knowing more people are hurting and hurting as badly if not worse then I am.   And that raises my blood pressure more, not less.


Just like with my home town as it is going along trying to really shape its future and its present, so am I.  As a good friend calls it, something we have to smooth ourselves out of the way in order to make that way.  


We are in perilous times, far more serious then people like or want to believe.  I am not talking from a national time, but a global one.  There is a lot of shifting going on and whether we want it or not we are on the ride of a lifetime.


That I am clear...


What I am not is so what do I do now?

A friend had this on a email she sent me:

"Searching for a miracle, expecting the impossible"

So I guess now I've answer my own question...

And hold on...




What's difficult in life is to stay centered when somebody does 
or says something that tempts us to close our hearts 
because their heart was closed. That is hard. ~
-Marianne Williamson

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