Add to the Belated Epiphany file:

Sounds grim, but hey, just coaching myself again, trying not to care so much about saving money, feeling secure, etc. Recent minor earthquake and hurricane reveal a need to fix up the house, reenforce a wall, improve the drainage. Major expenditures loom. Yep, as soon as it looks like the old bank balance may crawl into significant positive territory, something comes along to knock it back down. Le temps, c'est de l'argent = "time is money" — but in my case that should read: "In no time there's no money!"

Hey, that's OK — in fact, it's a fine lesson to learn. Feels nice to be comfortable, to have lots of neat stuff. But soon enough it's all gone. "The man who is not satisfied with little will be satisfied with nothing," says Epictetus, and "... let your desire go. Covet not many things, and you will obtain." Or the Buddha's "Nothing is to be clung to as I, me, or mine." Especially not "mine". Keep it real. Just breathe. It's all good.

(cf. MoreFunLessStuff (2002-10-01), LessMore (2005-03-14), WhereWeAre (2005-04-24), SeizeTheCarp (2005-07-02), Coming to Our Senses (2009-01-01), Letting Go (2010-09-18), Michael Wood on the Buddha (2010-12-22), ...) - ^z - 2011-09-03