Was just reading "Loving What Is," by Byron Katie (I think I’ve mentioned her here before, but I don’t read this site, so who knows), after putting it off to the side for a while. For some reason, the passage I just read really took hold, and seems like it would make life so simple if followed. Here it is:

I would often return from a long trip to find the house full of dirty laundry, piles of mail on my desk, the dog dish crusted, the bathrooms a mess, and the sink piled high with dishes. The first time this happened, I heard a voice that said, "Do the dishes." It was like coming upon the burning bush, and the voice from the bush said, "Do the dishes." It didn’t sound very spiritual to me, but I just followed its directions. I would stand at the sink and just wash the next dish, or sit with the piles of bills and pay the one on top. Just one at a time. Nothing else was required. At the end of the day, everything would be done, and I didn’t need to understand who or what did it.

When a thought appears such as "Do the dishes" and you don’t do them, notice how an internal war breaks out. It sounds like this: "I’ll do them later. I should have done them by now. My roommate should have done them. It’s not my turn. It’s not fair. People will think less of me if I don’t do them now." The stress and weariness you feel are really mental combat fatigue.

What I call "doing the dishes" is the practice of loving the task in front of you. Your inner voice guides you all day long to do simple things such as brush your teeth, drive to work, call your friend, or do the dishes. Even though it’s just another story, it’s a very short story, and when you follow the direction of the voice that story ends. We are really alive when we live as simply as that — opn, waiting, trusting, and loving to do what appears in front of us now.

What we need to do unfolds before us, always — doing the dishes, paying the bills, picking up the children’s socks, brushing our teeth. We never receive more than we can handle, and there is always just one thing to do. Whether you have ten dollars or ten million dollars, life never gets more difficult than that.

Really liked that passage. Rings so true… just need to stop creating wars.

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