It’s time to reconsider my definition of making it. It’s time to reconsider if I care about the money or fame. Is it better to live a good life as a good person. To put the writing I love out into the world and not fret about what it brings back. To be a person that gives all of me to life for no reason other than to live. I think I’ll like that life a whole better. And it’ll be nice to put down the weight of tomorrow.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of being less attached to the outcome. There is a Buddhist principle that says the root of suffering is craving or attachment, wanting things to be a certain way, and resisting change. I’ve heard it a lot in my life but I’ve never quite understood it. I’m goal-oriented, and I’ve never understood how one could keep their drive and release attachment to the thing they’re driving toward.

A young football player explained it in a way that finally made things click. He wrote ‘Can I be dedicated to the process without being emotionally tied to the result’ on his mirror. It was not about letting go of the dream. It was about letting go of the emotional roller coaster. If you’ve ever gone for something, then you know the toll it can take on your nervous system.

Neither I, nor you, can control the outcome. But I, or you, can step off the emotional dips and turns that come with every doubt, every comment, every mini failure or mini success. In fact, if we want to make our dreams a reality, it will do us good to take a deep breath in those moments and dedicate ourselves once again to the process.

As this monk says, “Saying this is easy, but doing this practically is really really difficult.” Meditation is the practice of this. Not because meditation releases attachment, but because it helps us practice noticing when we’re distracted. And it strengthens the muscle that can pull us back to the process, to the moment.

Until next time,

Live your light.