Parking Lot Wisdom

I think the guy must have been having a bad day; perhaps he was just a grouch.
“Eat less and get off your butt!” he shouted at my daughter and me as we loaded purchases into our car at our local Costco. We were discussing some latest diet fad. We certainly hadn’t requested his input.

He trudged by us with no further acknowledgement of our presence despite our open-mouthed stares.

I suspect he was not directing his comments toward my marathon running, thin, athletic daughter. Rather, his suggestions were probably aimed at me, carrying an extra hundred pounds and unlikely to be mistaken for anything resembling hyperactive.

He was, of course, rude, inappropriate, a jerk and – alas – right. Ever so right. Upon recovering from the indignity of an unacceptably honest stranger, I was forced to acknowledge the accuracy of his sentiments.

There is no question that the route to weight loss, as well as avoidance or reduction in other modern chronic ailments including diabetes, heart disease, cancers, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s (my personal favorite), is eating less and moving more.

There is no magic, no secret. There most certainly is not a government conspiracy waiting to be revealed in Roswell New Mexico. One doesn’t need a college degree. The answer is as available to us dummies as to anyone else. It is simplicity in itself.

In my heart of hearts, I have known this all along. Others may express frustration and sometimes anger with me – because the answer is so simple. My worst detractor is none other than myself – because the answer is so simple. My self-hatred, my tears, and my disappointments run my life and can put me in a continual state of emotional pain - because it is so simple.

I can be forgiven for searching for more complicate mysteries, but there are none. The fact that I have spent the better part of 6 decades in a search that at my core I've known is doomed to failure, is wrenching - but is also very human.

But how does one change this mindset? How does one finally seek reality when systematically rejecting it for so long? Its trite but true that all great journeys begin with one step. What is that step?

I am an expert in what doesn't work. To find something that does work I am looking to those who have been studying the mind for thousands of years. I am looking to the suggestions of Siddhartha Gautama based on his life and his enlightenment. Specifically, I am looking to those teachings as interpreted by modern Tibetan Buddhists. Siddhartha, taught that one must try out his teachings, as see if they apply. That is what I intend to do.