Monday, July 06, 2009

continue the mission

these are times of great trial. conditions are harsh. the distance is not kind. the race has not gone well. it has, in fact, has been downright brutal. and while you'd thought that things would eventually get better, each mile has only proven to be another step into an unfathomable darkness out from which you cannot see a way.

and it doesn't matter what you do, things just do not seem to change. of course, you can--and perhaps by all rights are entitled to--whine and moan and cry and complain. and wonder aloud about the cosmic forces that have misaligned you to your fate and about the unfairness of events and about the injustice that has infected this life. and recount to yourself all manner of woe and misery. and doing so might actually help you feel a little better, for least a little time.

but it won't make any difference. at least not to the distance, not to the race. because the state of the world is suffering, all of life is pain, the nature of the universe is chaos, and none of it really cares much about how you feel.

in the face of such reality, there is the temptation to give up. to just surrender. and call it a day and crawl back home and cower and hide. but if you do, you'll be following a path that leads to one conclusion: you curling up to die. which is problematic, because it means that you accept your life as not only pointless, but also pathetic.

and that's not something you're going to do. that's not something you can accept. not because it's wrong, not because there's better a option, but because of a principle:

continue the mission.

whatever the state of the world may be, whatever the nature of the universe is, you are still in control of yourself. and that means your life is what you choose it to be. and that means that the world can be about more than suffering, life can be about more than pain, the universe can be about more than chaos, and that to be so it will begin with you. to be more than pointless, to be more than pathetic, it must begin with you.

one step at a time.

and the rest? including all the whining, moaning, crying, and complaining? including all the suffering, pain, and chaos? including all those questions about what the mission is: about what you do and who you are and why it all is so?

that's between you and your god(s). who will--invariably, inevitably, exclusively--give you the same answer you already know, the only answer you need to know:

continue. the. mission.

3 comments:

Bob Almighty said...

Man this is really ringing home right about now...

jonathan starlight said...

amen, brother

Sladed said...

And so, continue I will.

thanks