Getting Nowhere and Everywhere

The little gerbil in my head is taking a break.

Normally he is in his wheel running and running, as if he is on an urgent mission. Faster and faster he runs, the wheel whining under the stress. But right now he is sitting quietly. He is realizing that all that running wasn’t getting him anywhere.

He ran to keep pace with the life around him, or so he thought. But life is life, it goes on and on. It does not run, nor does it rest. You cannot keep pace with it. You cannot beat it, neither can you keep up with it. Instead, you have to ride on it. Rather than running to keep up, or spinning your wheel at a desperate speed, you need to rest upon it.

It is like riding a surfboard. Do not run, do not paddle. Simply lay there and life carries you toward the shore. The waves will rock you, and propel you. And when you get in the groove the ride is smooth and all at once both calm and brisk. You cannot fight the wave. When you do, you fall off and it will wash over you. Like life, it cannot be stopped. It cannot be turned or coerced. It moves forward relentlessly, but with no malice. It simply rolls as it has rolled since the beginning.

The little gerbil in my head has gotten off his wheel, at least for the moment, and is relaxing, watching the wheel turn on its own, like the endless waves of the sea.