Month: August 2022

Living In The “I Don’t Know”…

I was talking to my Massachusetts friend Caryn recently and asked her how she handles everything going on in her life, including her long gestating health issues and dealing with all the madness of the world around her these days, and her answer was one I didn’t expect. She responded with three words, “I don’t know.” When I asked for further clarification, she said she just stopped trying to figure everything out and has taken a step back, letting everything happen however it does without trying to make sense of any of it. After our call ended, I found myself thinking that maybe I need to start living more in the “I don’t know” as well.

Living in the “I don’t know” is quite possibly the only way I can continue functioning with how out of control my life tends to feel these days, a world I’ve often tried to find definite answers to what generally seems to remain indefinite with no answers provided, something that’s become so extremely frustrating and futile feeling.

There are so many things I’ve prayed about, strived for, sought after, placed energy towards, envisioned, channeled, and the like, all to no avail. It’s like the Universe has put up a major roadblock to providing me any further answers to life in general. And the more I’ve tried to figure any of it out, to place structure to what feels so dam unstructured in my entire life, has left me feeling much, much worse. So I began using my friend’s three words to answer the many questions I have found myself losing my mind over lately trying to find answers for…

Am I ever meant to get healthy? I don’t know.
Am I ever meant to work again? I don’t know.
Is this relationship right for me anymore? I don’t know.
Is my Higher Power even around? I don’t know.
Is God even real? I don’t know.
Why does everyone seem so angry now? I don’t know.
Why can’t I cultivate any close friendships any longer? I don’t know.
Am I even on the path I’m meant to be on? I don’t know.

I’m sure this list could be ad infinitum honestly, yet somehow it feels far more reassuring to provide this answer to them, even if the answer really isn’t an answer, as what it does offer is a path to letting go of trying to figure any of it out anymore.

So, I’m working now on no longer trying to quantify the unquantifiable by answering all of those questions constantly clanging around inside my brain by simply responding to them with my friend Caryn’s three words of “I don’t know”. Maybe in doing so, I’ll experience a greater sense of peace than I presently have. Peace that usually comes far more by letting go of control and letting things happen in the Universe’s own unique ways and timing, and far less when I constantly try to figure it all out myself…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Silly Joke Friday

Silly Joke #1

A man is driving down a country road, when he spots a beautiful blond just standing in the middle of nowhere in a huge field of grass. He pulls the car over to the side of the road to see if she needs help. “Hello, are you ok? Do you need some assistance?” The beautiful blond replies, “I’m fine, this is actually the edge of my husband’s property, he’s a farmer. And I’m trying to win a Nobel Prize today.” “What? How?” asks the man, puzzled. “Well I heard the Nobel Prize is usually given to people who are out standing in their field.”

Silly Joke #2

When Jack died, his lawyer was standing before the family and reading his last will and testament: “To my dear wife Esther, I leave the house, 50 acres of land, and one million dollars. To my son Barry, I leave my big Lexus and the Jaguar. To my daughter Suzy, I leave my yacht and $250,000. And to my brother Jeff, who always annoyed me by insisting that improving your health is far better than having a ton of wealth, I leave my sun lamp.”

Silly Joke #3

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy, Little Johnny, a boy who always said the most inappropriate of things, into bed. She was about to turn off the light when Little Johnny asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep next to me tonight?” The mother had been trying to wean Johnny off from relying on her to sleep next to him so she responded, “Not tonight honey, I need to sleep in Daddy’s room ok?” Little Johnny replied angrily, “The big sissy!”

Bonus Silly Joke

Little Johnny was now grown up and actually got a scholarship to Harvard. During his first week on campus, he was still learning to get around the place and was trying to find the library to meet up with a study group. While wandering around, he sees an older, distinguished-looking professor walking by and asks him for directions. “Excuse me,” he asks, “do you know where the library is at?” The professor stops, looks at him, and scoffs, “Son, at Harvard one would never end any sentence with a preposition…”. “Ok. Fine. Do you know where the library is at, asshole?”

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Thought For The Day

Today’s Thought For The Day follow up my article yesterday on how I’ve been finding it very hard to smile anymore. I thought today’s quotes really sum up quite nicely the perspective I was seeking through my writing on the subject…

“Making one person smile through an act of unconditional love can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world.” (John Spence)

“If someone is too tired to give you a smile, leave one of your own, because no one needs a smile as much as those who have none to give.” (Samson Hirsch)

“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness of people.” (Roy T. Bennett)

“Sometimes the simplest of gestures, the smallest of compliments, or just knowing that someone is thinking about you and cares about you can be enough to make you genuinely smile when you most need it.” (Andrew Arthur Dawson)

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson