Que sera, sera

Hello friends, it takes a lifetime to form a personal philosophy. Often one is shaped by the many phases of a lifetime, but old age gives the opportunity to take stock, with some time-tested, basic definitions.  I’m less moralistic than I used to be, a bit less religiously puritanical. I’m less judgmental than I was and now understand that people have a right to their own decisions, with their own set of circumstances.

A preparation for elderhood is a willingness to see new understanding. Another is a gradual loosening of the desire for control, which is necessary as the physical machine diminishes. It may take a lifetime of “learning to let go” and to be more tolerant of others in our daily lives and mind,  but it can be a great aid to meditation and spiritual development.  Consider such acceptance as a mindful spin on the great cosmic wheel expressed in the song Que Sera, Sera: “what will be, will be.”

Being Judgmental

I go to McDonald’s for good cheap senior coffee,
thumb my nose at Starbuckites for a while,
and try to cope with negative views on diet.

I catch myself thinking
woman with two slim girls,
will they turn into you?

You were them back then, before sugar
made up for sadness and disappointment.
Find a good cat to lift your spirits.

See what I mean? I’m too easily judgmental.

I don’t know how much genetics play,
but we were a thin bunch
from the hills outside Lucca and Genova.

My grandparents were poor but not captives
of the land-owning gentry
who enjoyed their best chickens and veggies.

But how do we make judgments about others
without losing inner peace,
becoming paranoid victims of our own doing?

We might start not with fast-food people,
but with those who lust after limitless wealth,
without regard for the suffering, needy, and poor.