Don’t Bail Out

We characterize our experiences as love, courage, fear, emptiness, or mindfulness. The labels fit until they no longer do. And then the bottom falls out.

Boundaries are breached, chaos ensues. We are in a free fall, groundless, and that is frightening.

And isn’t that what impermanence is? Isn’t that being alive? Our bodies are flesh and blood but we are the stuff of stars. We do not stay the same and neither do our labels. They fall off for they no longer fit.

“The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out,” Pema Chödrön says. “Nothing is what we thought.”

My stomach lurches, as the labels of my life fall off. In disbelief, I look at a world I no longer recognize, with the exception of the familiar–insecurity and uncertainty–bailout labels.

I stay in free fall, trusting in impermanence.   

Love always finds its way as does courage. Nor are fear and hopelessness ever far behind. It is the way of the human experience.

Groundless.

The stuff of stars.

Aim for Even posts offer equanimity a dose at a time. No day or dose is ever the same, even if the aim is. You may read about the origins of Aim for Even here or on this site’s About page.