20220708 - Breathing Thich Nhat Hanh Style

The Driver's Seat Imagine sitting in a car, next to the driver. You don’t really know where you are going, but the driver seems to know. “I know the way”, he says. So you cruise along for the ride, going wherever the driver decides that you should go. It’s comfortable; you can tilt the seat back, maybe sleep a little, the radio has some pretty cool songs, and you don’t need to pay so much attention to what is happening outside. Sometimes you look out through the window and you see some sideroads that catches your eye. It’s something about the winding of that particular road that excites you. There are trees there and fewer cars. You would really like to go there, but the driver plays it safe, and he knows the way. “It’s more comfortable this way, and it’s the fastest way to where we are going”, he says. And so you sleep a little more, and listen to the radio, and soon you don’t look at the sideroads anymore. You trust the driver, he knows. And days turn to months, months turn to years, and one day, the driver stops the car. “See, I told you I would get us here.” He’s proud. You get excited. “Wow, that was a long ride”, you think to yourself. You ask the driver, “Where are we?” “At the end.” “What do you mean the end?” “We don’t have to drive anymore. We made it through.” “Okay, that’s great”, you say confused. “So, now what?” “Nothing, silly. We made it! We are here now. The road trip is over and we don’t need to drive any more.” “I don’t understand. What was the point?” ”Nothing. That was life and now we are dead and we made it.” Put yourself in the driver's seat. You can choose. You can. Choose!