The gloaming

[Jimbo]

Hey MW! Glad to hear from you again. How are you holding up?

[mountain_west]

I feel for you. It sounds like we are in a similar place. A wise man once reminded me to focus on the things I can control. I'm still trying to sort out what, exactly, those things are. You'd think those things would be easy to recognize.

[mountain_west]

I hope nobody minds, but I'm trusting the universe to whack my W upside the head.

... and yours too.

in a wholesome and helpful way, of course

[Jimbo]

I feel for you. It sounds like we are in a similar place. A wise man once reminded me to focus on the things I can control. I'm still trying to sort out what, exactly, those things are. You'd think those things would be easy to recognize.

For me, beginnersmind sorted those things out about as well as anybody has...

The only things I can change are my attitudes, reactions and action toward the people, places and circumstances in my life.

Accomplishing a lot of this seems to lie in how we choose to look at what is happening to us, and whether we can see the situation for what it REALLY is, instead of buying into our programmed emotional states. It's so much easier to just let ourselves get swept away by emotion, and push logic, reason and understanding aside. Emotion doesn't take as much effort. It's already pre-wired! We follow the emotional pathways that have been set up by our own personal experiences of the past. We know how betrayal feels- the feelings make us go all Pavlovian and drive our conclusions into the same groove that we had when we first experienced that feeling, despite the fact that, if we were to force ourselves to look at the situation for what it is NOW instead of what it was then, we would have an opportunity to see, and therefore act, differently.

That's the funny thing about emotions- they're not logical.

And reprogramming learned response patterns can be a b*tch. Ask any smoker and/or alcoholic you run across......

[Mach1]

Birkenstock,

Sometimes, brother, you think waaaaayyyyy too much....

I bet you bought Trapt's wheel off E-Bay.......

I kinda like the Jim that is just.........Jim

Did you say "cold beer" ?

[Jimbo]

I hope nobody minds, but I'm trusting the universe to whack my W upside the head.

... and yours too.

in a wholesome and helpful way, of course

I learned a long time ago that sometimes people don't receive the learnings until they are repaid "in their own coin".

Our job is to await a time with patience, until Universe can recognize that form, and its answer is returned.

You can rest assured, MW, although we may not see it, Universe is having them reap as they sow.

[fisherman]

I bet you bought Trapt's wheel off E-Bay.......

Someone did! If that wasn't you, then I'll make you one helluva deal.

Wait...Cold what??? Where!?

[Jimbo]

Birkenstock,

Sometimes, brother, you think waaaaayyyyy too much....

I bet you bought Trapt's wheel off E-Bay.......

I kinda like the Jim that is just.........Jim

Did you say "cold beer" ?

I just calls 'em as I sees 'em.

And that wheel on EBay was a snip at 50 bucks! (Though I think that one guy bidding against me may have been Trapt himself on his shell account. I f-ing hate EBay......)

Did somebody mention "beer" while I wasn't looking?....... [Jimbo looking around eagerly]

[mountain_west]

mmmmmm ... beer

[Mach1]

LMAO !

I think he puts his of things on E-Bay and then sees them / likes them and figures since he is selling his, he may as well get another one...

Gotta love those Michiganites.....

Where the hell is MW, he is supposed to buy the first (twenty) round !

How are ya Gembo ?