I need to expand on what I wrote yesterday just a little. This is a polite way to admit I totally left out and important part of the idea - whoopsie!
The idea of Not Taking More Than You Need relates to answering the question: What purpose does this serve?
When you ask yourself how much you really need of whatever it is at the time, it's useful to question why you need it. Think about that and ask, Does it serve my life? Or does it serve some other purpose that is not honorable, like ego or jealousy or having for the sake of having, or something else? Above all, how can I act with integrity?
The idea of purpose, always keeping in mind intention, is the guide for answering the question, How Much Is Enough.
Yesterday was library day. We ran into one of OC's schoolmates there, so I talked to her mom while she looked at books with her friend.
Interesting side note: later in the bathroom an older Spanish-speaking woman asked for help with her pants zipper, which was stuck in the up position and she needed to go. She did not speak English, but I understood her because (confession time) I am learning Spanish. Or, my husband and I are.
It's times like that when I am reminded of that childhood question, When am I ever going to use this??? I'll tell you when: at a public restroom where a woman for whom English is not her first (or any) language and she can't get her zipper undone. In other words, you never know.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Geometry to be useful. End of sidenote.
To give you some idea of how deeply contemplative I am, these are the books I left the library with:
An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life, by the Dalai Lama
Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy, by Mortimer J. Adler
Plan B: Thoughts on Faith, by Ann LaMott
This is in addition to the stack of books by my bedside, including Becoming Fearless, by Ariana Huffington and When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd.
Cannot get enough, I'm telling you. When I read an author I know and like, I learn about new authors and it leads to new books to read. It's kind of like blogs that way, the interconnectedness of it all.
There is not enough time to read all the books I want to read right now.
What are you reading?
4 comments:
I never have enough time to read everything that I want to read. Right now I'm reading: Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator, Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters, and (on MP3) The Thirteenth Tale. But my to read stack is high, and my lists are even higher. But here I am visiting blogs instead...
Anne Lamott is fabulous! You simply must read ALL of her non-fiction. I really think that real life stuff is her forte. The fiction? Not so much...but I think you'll really get a lot out of her stuff.
The idea of not taking more than you need is a true struggle these days... everyone wants more and more... sadly, to willingly take or accept less is often looked on as failure...
I am reading Antonia Fraser's, Marie Antionette... I for one, loved the movie!
Books, anything by Thich Nhat Hanh, he is so clear and so relevant.
"Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty" - Socrates
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