{"id":2621,"date":"2012-03-28T09:46:49","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T16:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=2621"},"modified":"2012-03-28T09:46:49","modified_gmt":"2012-03-28T16:46:49","slug":"things-are-what-they-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/03\/28\/things-are-what-they-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Things Are What They Are"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\nThe Scream<\/em>, by Edvard Munch, reminding us to not panic but accept the things we cannot change.<\/h6>\n

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things happen. Why they happen one way and not the other is beyond anyone’s control. Sometimes they’re inconvenient, sometimes\u00a0disastrous. Either way, they just are.<\/p>\n

How much in life do we really control?<\/p>\n

Our attitude, maybe, and that’s hard enough.<\/p>\n

It may be the thing you’re chaffing at right now is in the category of things that can’t be changed.<\/p>\n

We can only change our mind.<\/p>\n

Things beyond our control include:
\nThe weather
\nTaxes
\nOther people
\nThat building blocking our view
\nThe reality that “right or wrong, he’s still the boss”
\nThat life contains pain
\nTaxes
\nOur past
\nAging
\nThe speed limit
\nTaxes
\nDeath<\/p>\n

These are just a sample of the things that are what they are<\/em>. To recognize what we can’t change is a step toward acceptance. And acceptance is grace.<\/p>\n

We should all want to grow in grace.<\/p>\n

We should also note the kind of things that just are<\/em> but we’re well used to, like the race we were born into, and the times, our country of origin, our gender. We had no choice in a great many things; we just accept them and go on from there.<\/p>\n

“Who can straighten what is crooked?”\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

“What is twisted cannot be straightened.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Accept it.<\/p>\n

But don’t sit idle. Identifying what can’t be changed may just be context for action.<\/p>\n

Another from the Ecclesiastes sage:<\/p>\n

“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things are what they are, but still there’s response to be made, work to be done, life to be lived.<\/p>\n

We recognize the things we can’t change, accept them, and we go from there.<\/p>\n

It’s just another thing that is<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_______________________<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes\u00a011:3, 7:13, 1:15, 11:4<\/p>\n

Next time:\u00a0Face it–We Won’t be Remembered.<\/em>\u00a0Coming Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t panic; some things you just can’t change. Recognizing what they are, and when they are, helps us to accept them and move on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2621"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2856,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions\/2856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}