The End Of The End

We live in con­stant antic­i­pa­tion. We look for­ward to the end of projects — only to real­ize that they really do not fully end. The tread­mill of life seems to speed up. We want clo­sure so we can relax, but it never really comes to fruition. Life is really an open loop. The most dif­fi­cult thing to do is to set­tle down within a rou­tine that has no end. You really can­not “clock out” of life. Death itself is not an end but a new begin­ning. We might as well relax into what we are doing today and not fall into the illu­sion of rest­ing at the end — for there is no end.

Addic­tion dynam­ics include end-results think­ing. There is some­thing about the illu­sion of arriv­ing that keeps us press­ing for­ward at the expense of embrac­ing the moment or real­iz­ing that life itself is non-stop. By pit­ting our­selves against the cycles of work and play, we feel drained and frus­trated. You hear it when peo­ple say, “Stop the world, I want to get off!” For some rea­son, this opens the door to out-of-control com­pul­sions.

The rent, the car pay­ment, the light bill — all come rolling around again. The processes of life are con­stant. Even sui­cide is a futile attempt to force an end. Learn­ing to rest in the motion of life is a spir­i­tual art. The merry-go-round is not going to stop, so you might as well enjoy the ride and see what you can learn from it.

You eat a meal, know­ing full well that you will be hun­gry again in a cou­ple of hours or so. The break for lunch is just a stop along the way. Still­ness is what you groom while things are hap­pen­ing. Pay atten­tion. There is an eter­nal para­dox hap­pen­ing here: end­less activ­i­ties are best expe­ri­enced in deep still­ness. Declare an end to the end. Some­day your grand­chil­dren will have grand­chil­dren. The sun will con­tinue to rise long after you are unable to see it. Our planet revolves end­lessly. Day and night are just punc­tu­a­tion points in the story of con­stant light. Fully grasp­ing your eter­nal nature will keep you from worry and regret. Those two feel­ings are also just punc­tu­a­tion points along the way.