Once upon a time there was a seeker
that traveled through life with
open eyes and ears.
The seeker tried out new ideas
and discussed unfamiliar ones
with the people who talked about them.
The seeker continuously recreated the image
of the universe seeking to make the
most sense out of all the ideas
and experiences combined.
The seeker was humble enough to know
it was an impossible task
but worthwhile at the same time.
One day the seeker came upon a man that was crying.
He was sobbing deeply as he sat beside the road.
"What makes you cry so hard?" asked the seeker.
"All the sadness in the world." replied the sad man.
"Do all the wonderful things in the world
make you laugh?" the seeker asked.
At that the crying man stopped crying.
He tipped his head a little to the side,
thought about the question for a moment,
and said, "I only laugh at things one at a time."
"Now that you mention it, there are a lot of
funny and wonderful things."
This made him burst out laughing.
However, this laughter was brief.
The sad man started crying again.
"What now?" the seeker inquired.
"If I had only thought of that sooner
I would have been much happier in my life.
Now I have focused on too many of the sad things.
I won't be able to find balance."
The seeker asked the sad man,
"If you could find balance,
how would you do it?"
The sad man stopped crying once again.
He tipped his to the side and
thought about the question.
Finally, he replied,
"I'll have to figure that one out."
and off he trotted talking to himself.
The seeker sat thinking there
by the side of the road.
"What if happiness is not the
balance point?"
What if it is the ability
to acknowledge sadnesses one at a time
just the way we acknowledge joy.
We can move on.
Then happy and sad memories
can inhabit us
without causing a mutiny.
Does any of that make sense?
Greenmoss
