WITH just a tiny twist, things could be so different. The smallest event may have immense consequences. The fluttering of a butterfly's wings may ultimately resolve itself into a typhoon; but this does not mean that you can create typhoons by fluttering your wings. The problem with trying to influence events is that unless you understand what's going on, what you do will probably not only fail to create the result you wish, but actually create a result that you will not like.
Of course, you never know what's going on. Even though we understand this, we still try to influence events, and go on creating unexpected results. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't know what to do. You don't know whether the result of your action will be good or bad. Usually the result is both good and bad, and has both short-term and long-term consequences that will appear good or bad depending on your perspective.
When you find something you love, you try to keep it, though often what you do to try to keep it makes you lose it. Paradoxically, it seems that the best way to keep something or someone that you love, is to let go. Sometimes nothing works. But, within all this terrible confusion, we have been given two great blessings: we cannot foresee the future, and we do not know what other people are thinking.
April 5, 1994
3/17/99
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