The Way

I have written about this before, over on my Shikoku web site, but i've been thinking about it a lot lately. It comes from Malcolm Bosse's novel The Warlord, but it's certainly not fiction.

Whoever or whatever it is that gives such things,
     gives us our essence at birth.
The design of this essence then starts to unfold.
To watch it unfold is to live.
To watch it with confidence and good humor is to follow the Way.

I'll completely skip the first line because that would only open a can of worms. The 'whoever' or 'whatever' can be argued every which way, back and forth, front and back, until the end of time, and we won't come to an agreement.

But, it would be pretty hard to argue against the fact that when we are born, we are born with this unknown, unknowable, and amazing essence that gives us our life. What that essence is will probably always remain a mystery. A mystery that keeps people awake at night. A mystery that makes people wonder and think. A mystery that makes people fall in love. A mystery that can carry you to the highest of creative peaks.


The design of this essence then starts to unfold. And after you are born, no, after you are conceived, that essence begins to play out the role it was meant to play out for you. Your life begins slowly at first, and then picks up speed with each passing year. And with each passing year, that essence — your essence — unfolds a little more, like those long Asian picture scrolls that only lets you see a little of the picture at a time as you slowly unwind the reel.


To watch it unfold is to live. To live. To succeed. To fail. To fall in love. To be crushed by injustice. To see eternity. To live in a box. To create beauty. To be scared by ugly words. To accept all that comes to your life with no more animosity than the oak tree when the winds howl. To live is to watch that essence that brought you to life as it unfolds. Some people watch it with patience. Some people watch it with unease. Some with anger. Some with apprehension. There are millions and millions of ways to watch it unfold, and each one of us, in our own way, makes a life as we watch.

To watch it with confidence and good humor is to follow the Way. Yet, just to watch your essence unfold is not living life to its fullest. To watch it with confidence and good humor, no matter what comes, is to truly live — and that is to follow the Way. To accept confidently that each and every situation you face is your essence unfolding as it was meant to unfold, even if it doesn't make sense at the time. To smile at life's injustices. To laugh at the great unfairnesses, even as you fight them, if that is appropriate. To be able to laugh at yourself with a thunderous laugh. This is to follow the Way.

When life is lived on this trail, the trail of the Way, you live a life of unlimited potential. You live a life that knows no bounds and is constrained only by your lack of dreams. Dream big and your life will be full. Dream expansive dreams and your life will soar. Dream wild dreams and your life will be full of color and fulfillment.

Why then, do we settle for so much less than we can be? Be courageous. Live life with confidence and good humor.