#1 Don't Go Borrowing Trouble

First, thanks for all of the birthday wishes for Michael, whether they were posted here or came via email.  We had a fun day, and I will post about it soon.  For now, I'll just give you a hint about our day:  ROARRRRRRRR!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Is there a Trouble Library where we borrow Troubles when everything around us appears to be fine, but we find ourselves caught up in things that MIGHT HAPPEN SOMETIME?  If not, where do these things come from?

Last week, I was playing around with a few Borrowed Troubles.  But they came due this past Monday, and I returned them on time.  No overdue fine.  I don't know where I got them or where I returned them to, but they are gone and, well, here we are!

Isn't it fascinating how often everyone around us (never us!) worries about things that MIGHT HAPPEN SOMETIME?  It's as if juggling Borrowed Troubles will help us to be prepared for when the Real Trouble comes along.  Meanwhile, the dog is sweetly sleeping beside us, the clothes are all washed and put away, our loved ones are out doing whatever it is they like to do, the birds are singing outside our window, and we are missing it all (or at the very best, barely registering it) because we are busy figuring out how to deal with a wide assortment of the BTs.

Did you hear me?  The birds are singing!  Everything is fine!  There are no current problems!

And when there are current problems, we will deal.  They probably won't be the same problems as those practiced when we Borrowed Trouble, so all of that practice was a waste of time, anyway.

I notice this kind of thing everywhere, and it's prevalent in the Intertubal MCL world. I have yet to figure out what good it does, other than to make us feel miserable and help us to look like very concerned spouses/parents/citizens/etc.  Or maybe we just look like very worried people.  People who are missing the laughs and lightness and joy that dances in every moment.

As the wise B. Marley sang, "We don't need no more trouble.  What we need is love!"

Much of the time (but not last week), I practice noticing what's really happening RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.  I leave the BTs on the shelf at the Trouble Library, or wherever it is that they like to sit, and I deal with what's in front of me in the moment.  Maybe it's not very American to take the time to stop and notice the sensations in our toes, the kekekekekekek of the northern flicker in the cottonwood, or the coolness of the air as it enters our nostrils.  But THAT'S what's happening - not the BTs!

Dharma Talk For Today:  When my ball gets stuck under the dresser, I try to dig a hole in the hardwood floor to get it.  Since the floor is too darn hard to dig through, I just go find my nylabone.  There are no troubles in life that can't be solved by finding another toy.  I'm not picky.