Sometimes it is better to look at things as if they were inside-out. Sometimes it is better to believe that things should have turned out the other way around but they did not. And other times it is better to stand motionless in awe of the becoming and the changes and the events which swing on by at the speed of light leaving you back there in the dust to figure it all out. Most of the time it really does not matter, because your perception of things and wishful thinking does not matter at all. Some of the so-called wise folks out there claim that it is better to forget about the past and to live in the now. I say that it is the next day that counts, and the next and the next and the next after that, the whole process of preparation means you cannot stand still in the now and remain worthy of your true purpose. Inside-out that is.
There is no next day. There is only now. We don't stand still in now, now is constantly in motion. Seeing now is knowing that there is only motion; preparation of any kind is our attempt in the now for the now that we believe might be, but, of course, nothing is certain. All you can do is be here now and be ready for whatever it brings you.
Funny that you should mention that, Brian. The theory of the now was exactly what I was trying to question with a serious and mindful statement. Can you really be just in the now and at the same time be totally prepared for whatever happens? Prepared means thinking about the future, thus contradicting the now mindset. Or is this all getting too philosophical and/or esoteric?
I don't think you can be prepared, just open.
Preparation is no different than desire, really. It's our attempt to define and control something that we have no idea about.
I know this is technically off-topic, but it reminded me of this little nugget. In art classes one of the things we were taught was to flip our subject matter upside down. It turns out that when you see things as they are, your mind fills in what you can't really see, which results in an inaccurate portrayal of reality. Flip it over and it's unfamiliar, so you render what you see much more faithfully. It's a good thing to remember in all of life, not just art.
Interesting point, Tom. The act of turning something inside-out is similar to turning it upside-down I think. A metamorphosis which changes how we see and therefore provides new insights.