Timing
So much of life is timing, intentional or coincidental. When I consider the vast possibilities of events which could intersect to change my life, it is staggering. All illusion of control vanishes.
Anyone who has had a traffic accident can understand what I am thinking. Driving along on a bright day is suddenly interrupted by a life-darkening event. The personal universe is altered by concerns of physical health, safety and financial details. This shadow can hover over a life for months, even years. Yet it occurs in an instant.
We live much of our lives in denial of the influence of timing and accident on them. Those of us who are fortunate by birth often assume everyone else has had the same fair shake in life. Those of us who are the result of poor timing of intercourse between impoverished and impaired parents struggle their whole lives to overcome the circumstances of their origins, while attempting to follow societal prescriptions about honoring their parents.
Walking the humanist path requires a realistic view of timing and circumstance. This mindfulness is the foundation of compassion, which motivates right action in moment-by-moment practice. Intentional timing is a prerequisite of conscious action for the good. Learning to live with accidental timing with mindfulness, compassion and joy is the work of practice.
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