Two Keys to the Valley of Contentment

Key to the Valley of Contentment:

Sometimes, when you win, you lose.

Sometimes, when you lose, you win.

Those two strange phrases from "What Dreams May Come", my very favorite movie a few years ago, evoke strange feelings in me. I don't particularly buy into them, but they resonate with my heart, and generate tickling musings.

The truth is, we sometimes battle to take the right path and make the right decisions, only to find that it has no result we can recognize. We can only assume that our good intention has some kind of positive effect, but we still need to figure out how to tackle the challenge at hand. It sometimes even feels like a waste of time!

And then at other times, the opposite seems to happen - we make no particular move within one problematic area of our lives, and it is suddenly inadvertently resolved!

When we trust that those things which are meant to be resolved will do so of their own, and accept that our efforts, however valiant and purposeful, may not result in what we intend them to - without at all diminishing them - we bathe in deep contentment.


Key to the Valley of Contentment:

Have you ever noticed that an artist from one of your favorite bands goes solo, and his or her music suddenly loses all the beauty it had heretofore? (I'm thinking of the exorbitant and lamentable tragedy of Tom Yorke, Louise Rhodes, Lisa Gerrard and Billy Corgan's solo ventures among others.) Why are sophomore albums so frequently vastly inferior to debuts? Why is it that when some artist gain access to greater resources, they often lose their spunk?

I think people have a misguided idea of what it is to "get what you want". What do you want? Do you want what others say you want? If you're an actor, do you want to be a Hollywood star? (It's often been assumed that that would be my aspiration...) If you're a painter, is your main goal to have your art exposed around the world and sold at exorbitant prices (I know, I've used this exquisite word twice now!)?

Wise people always say they have all they need - everyone always ever has all they need. What a joy to know that the people in my life are the very souls that will benefit the most from my talents and my work! We always pray to reach more souls and touch more hearts, and we can remain confident that we have been chosen to bless the very people with whom we already come in contact. There's no one else we were supposed to have met or impressed - but maybe the very next moment there will be!


All you need is love.
Love (actually) is all around.
All is full of love.