Dandelions are free

Taken from my Iphone

You have to decide if you're going to wilt like a daisy or if you're just going to go forward and live the life that you've been granted. Kevin Costner

Dusk was gathering on the horizon when Ellie and I headed out for our evening walk. The air was fresh and cool. A storm had blown through hours before and rain still lay in glistening puddles on the sidewalk. The grass was wet, the river wend its way lazily along the valley bottom, a giant liquid snake moving slowly through the greenery below.

We passed walkers and gawkers, children playing ball, a couple sitting on a bench immersed in the pools of eachother's eyes. We passed a family packing up from a late evening barbecue, a group of young men playing touch football, two girls rollerblading.

The air was velvety cool against my skin. The sky was golden mixed with warm summer blues streaked with clouds tinged in evening hues of rose and purple and amber.

I walked and let Ellie pull on the leash as my mind wandered, my eyes soaking up the view, my thoughts drifting effortlessly like the river below.

Sometimes, to get the most out of life the only thing you can do is savour it, just as it is. No pushing or pulling, no need to tweak or adjust. The only need is to savour. To be present in the moment. To let each breath roll across the tongue, in and out and in and out. To let the sounds of life play joyously on your heartstrings. To let it all in. Completely. And let it all out. Completely.

No need to hold on. To grasp. To yearn. No need to want.

You only need to let it be.

And in that moment of letting it be, just the way it is, life unfolds, just the way it is.

I have a friend who has all the money she will ever need who feels an unidentifiable anger bruising her world with its unsettling quest to steal her peace of mind.

Maybe it's because you have so much and there are so many in the world with so little, I suggested.

If that were the case I'd just give it all away, she replied. Which in many instances she does.

But giving it all away will take away the one thing money gives her -- a sense of safety. I know I'm safe when I have limitless money in the bank, she said. This friend has worked hard for her money. And she continues to do so while remaining one of the most generous and giving people I know.

It's not about the money, we agreed. It's about what money can't do. It can end, 'poverty', but it can't end suffering. It can change the state of the human condition in the world, but it can't change the human condition. It can change our state of being present in the world, but it can't change our state of mind, our being who we are, our being human.

Only we can do that.

Only we have that choice.

To change.

To grow.

To evolve.

To quit wilting like daisies and start growing like weeds. Up through the cracks. Shaking off pesticides and dirt and all attempts to kill us off.

You gotta love the dandelion. It is resilient. Persistent. Stalwart. It grows in spite of every attempt we make to rid our world of its presence.

The dandelion knows who it is. It believes in the purpose of its presence in this world. And it doesn't relent.

From tiny seed to yellow stemmed flower to delicate puff, the dandelion does what it does best no matter its environment. It grows and grows and grows because it knows, this is the life it's been granted.

Best savour each moment and fill each facet of our being with beauty.

Namaste.