Live your Dharma
“It’s better to do your dharma imperfectly than to do someone else’s perfectly.”
The Bhagavad Gita
This is one of my favorite excerpts from the Gita because it reminds us that our job in this lifetime to is to share our innate gifts and live our own lives, with the acceptance that we’re guaranteed to make mistakes along the way.
When we meet people who are living by this guidance, they tend to have a unique and wonderful zest for life, like the man I met last week in the park.
Blue Dill “As in Dill pickle,” he said, is carving out his own path in life. We first saw him cycle past us in his man powered RV, outfitted with a bucket in front where a baby lay securely fastened facing him and a toddler sat comfortably enjoying the ride. Turning the corner, he yelled a quick instruction and his dog, who was sitting patiently on a platform behind him, jumped off and went exploring. The entire scene made Blair and I chuckle with awe and delight.
We met up with Blue later, where he was taking a break to feed the baby by the waters edge. With his wife finishing her residency, he decided to take a break from his masonry work to be a full time dad. “I don’t want to wake up when they’re 18 and vaguely recognize them,” he said. He’s a man who’s chosen to live a life that suits his vision and he’s spreading joy doing it.
As we change gears and start to schedule our fall months, I challenge you to pause before you do the automatic and consciously infuse your life with a few activities that align with your dharma and support your deepest desires.
Remember, we are here to enjoy our lives, just as Blue Dill is!
Jenny