October 21, 2013 - Inspiration from the source this morning is about wisdom and is an homage to my classmates at SLHS, class of 1983. 

I had a lot of chats about wisdom (and aging) over the weekend, so I opened my mind to the idea of wisdom this a.m. as I concluded my morning meditation. A full body warmth enveloped me in the chill of the Fall as I asked for thoughts on the subject. Wisdom, it seems, is something to strive for. Wisdom is the ability to live in the now completely, but allow the influence of the past to guide us as we respond to situations, as we make our decisions as we open ourselves completely to this life experience. 

But I sense that wisdom is sometimes an excuse for keeping walls up, for pushing out the potential for joy, or success or love. I've had so many people tell me, "well, that didn't work, so I gave up on it and I'm trying something else." Wisdom should not be a prison, keeping us locked off from reaching out and trying to correct mistakes, to live the dream. Sure, sometimes we find that a tactic we tried to reach a goal did not work. Should we then just turn our back on the potential because there was a bad moment here and there? 

I think wisdom is the knowledge that listening at all times provides answers. As I grow older, I know with certainty that I truly understand less and less. This is surely from aging and realizing that not everything people do makes sense. Decisions are so often grounded in unstable emotions, fear or anger - that you cannot know what is to come, and you cannot always understand the reactions of others in the now, just because of who they were in your past. 

What you can do, with a quiet and thoughtful heart, is look deeply into others, and listen with an open heart. Seek the beauty in every living thing. And if you are really, really lucky - you'll have a moment or two to reflect that into their eyes. Dance with everyone...and don't worry if they are going to step on your toes.

At my 30th reunion this weekend - I talked to people I am pretty sure I never had the guts to speak to 30 years ago. I looked in their eyes, and I found so much beauty I did not see when I was young. I told them each what I saw - and some of them were really open to hearing it. Others seemed just as shy as I remember I myself once was. To my classmates of the past, if I could go back now, I would listen to each of you so much better - I would strive to just hear your hearts, I would not judge you so quickly for actions I thought I saw you take - but would talk to you and find out why we all were doing what we were doing. I would possibly have had a much better and happier senior year if I had done this then. I hope I can teach this to my children. 

But is it now necessary to linger back then and worry about what was? No - instead I choose to love all of these people better than I did then - in this now. I choose to hear the song they are singing, and let them hear mine. How much beauty did I miss by keeping my head down and focusing on playing other people as a teenager? Now I want to be myself and just dance to all this music we are making together. 

Time is teaching me that wisdom is the ability to wait and see, in patience, in joy, in love - right here, in this moment. Time is teaching me to dance. That feels good. 

Namaste.