The Echo and The Light

It's been said that many of us don't have a fear of failure but a fear of success. We are afraid of becoming the light. Why do we have these fears and how can we overcome?

Our media portrays a very clear picture of success - big houses, fast cars, and blond, buxom women. We are culturally attuned to these images, yet I think we know deep down inside that this picture of success is not something we want for ourselves. If we achieve "success", will we have achieved something we don't want? No wonder we fear it.

"Success" is something very, very personal. Only we can define it, and once we define it, we can start traveling the path. We don't know what path to travel until we define the goal, though.

The path, especially at the beginning, is a tough one. Our way is overgrown with our personal weeds and brush - our fears, our hatreds, our demons and other personal issues make the path difficult to navigate if not impossible to see. We are the light that illuminates out way, yet our lamp is shrouded by years and decades of cultural and personal programming.

As a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, our first step is to confront the things that are blocking our light. And for that, we can use an "echo".

Read this story here.

What are you shouting to the universe? What are you hearing back? Do you like it? What would you change?

Why a River?

Part of this blog will be about exploring the river as a metaphor for life.

I've used the river metaphor for many years, and the more I think about it, the analogy becomes better and better.

Basically, the river represents life, and we're a paddler (kayaker/rafter/canoeist/etc) on that river. Life has it's flow and current, and, like a river, life was various times of turbulence, peace and maturity.

Everyone's river is different, and there are many different types of rivers - rough, shallow, wide, slow, etc., etc. How we navigate the river is how we deal with life. Some people manage the turbulence with great skill, while others are afraid to leave their eddy and join the current (but get swept away anyway).

All of the analogies and ideas will be broken down and expanded upon as we travel through this blog.

Keep your head between the gunwales and your paddle in the water!

Headwaters of the River Tao

Welcome to The River Tao, a blog on the spiritual ramblings and observations by a paddler on the sometimes turbulent, sometimes calm river that is this world.

I've often used rivers as a metaphor to describe the ebb and flow of the world, and our lives within this world. To help me flesh out these ideas in writing, and to share some of these ideas with the world, I've created this blog.

I will be rambling all over the map on philosophy, religion, science, worldview and belief systems. My own spiritual makeup is a real mixture of faiths and practices, and I've been told I don't have a normal view of the world (whatever that means).

I expect there will be times where the ride is pretty rough (blogging about religion can be like diving into Class V rapids), but I hope to keep my head between the gunwales, my paddle in the water, and eddy out occasionally.

Oh, and I'll be using a lot of paddling terms; if your lost, check out the glossary.