An Ode to 2013…

I don’t own myself.

I don’t own you or any of my friends.

I don’t own my family, nor do I own the decisions they opt to make.

I don’t own this world or the sacred natural balance of its omniscience.

I don’t own my mistakes, difficult times or temporary hardships.

I don’t own the harsh judgements ‘she’ places on me.

I don’t own the cynicism in ‘his’ eyes when he looks without seeing.

I don’t own the frustration when ‘they’ hear without listening.

I don’t own ‘stuff’, which is why I know I don’t need any.

I don’t own your category, box or definition.

I am free to be and do because I choose to own nothing.

In my own journey, I began viewing ‘owning’ as ‘possessing’.

As if the decisions we make define us and being responsible to ourselves, each other or the world at large becomes who we are and what we do.

And I started understanding that this is where the dangers may lie. Perhaps moreover, I began to notice the subtle, yet profound difference between ‘owning’ and ‘being’.

Owning and possessing implies an attachment to. Being, a detachment from.

And this speaks to the core of something I consider deeply critical. I can make quality decisions and assume responsibilities, but absent attaching myself to them.

On the positive side, I’ve seen many people (myself included) strive to use their lives as a beacon of good and aspire to make the world a better place. But in the past, once I began attaching myself to those aspirations, the decisions I was making in order to fulfill that promise began weighing heavily on me (to the point of second guessing and over-thinking). Quite frankly, I was owning these decisions and assuming the responsibility for them as a possession that was (would) define me.

On the negative side, sometimes people (myself included) make poor decisions. And yet, in the past I was so attached to these decisions, I would experience significant adverse fallout if the decisions I made did not culminate in a way I deemed affirmative. I would become gun-shy to make decisions in the future and grow frustrated internally as my self-perception (due to the possession of attachment) tainted.

I believe fully that we are all capable of making quality decisions and assuming responsibility for ourselves, our conduct and our actions.

No blame, no victimization and no fault expressed externally; but also in the absence of attaching ourselves to them.

But I also believe that historical axioms oftentimes fall short. No matter how indoctrinated they have become into our living psyche.

Water does not own a particular space or property. It simply is. And absent a rigid definition, its ability to flow and be is what makes it the most powerful and adaptable substance on earth.

In 2013, become like water.
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Are you going to become like water in 2013?  Please scroll down and leave your comments below…

Ignore the Rules; Inspire the Extraordinary Within

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BG