Knowing No...

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." - Thomas Merton in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Hmmm, sound like anyone you know?! I think we've all been there at one time or another. Perhaps you are there right now? I think the reason this quote from Merton struck a chord with me is that we live in a society that seems to reward busy-ness... and I don't do well with busy-ness! Certainly not busy-ness that comes at the expense of my spiritual, physical & emotional well-being. And yet, I still struggle with the useless and self-imposed guilt that sometimes accompanies a decision to say "no, thank you" - although, admittedly, not as much as I used to!

Interestingly, a friend offered me a true pearl to ponder earlier today: "Where there is no no, a yes means nothing." She declined to explain it and simply suggested I meditate on it for a while, which I did. I invite you to do the same...

Now, excuse me while I go say "yes" to my girl Ellen as I watch her host the Oscars!
PAX,