Inhale and remember you are alive.
Exhale and surrender.
Inhale you are alive.
Exhale surrender.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
If any of you were children in the 70s as I was,
You might wonder if our parents wanted us to stay alive.
Our monkey bars had cement underneath them.
We also had to climb a rope to the top of the gym ceiling with only a two-inch pad between our heads and the gym floor.
And let's not forget jarts.
Jarts were lawn darts,
Not the friendly nerf kind that bounce.
These were 12-inch metal darts built to pierce.
Here kids,
Take these sharpened darts,
Go outside,
Throw them high up into the air,
And see what happens.
Lots of injuries.
That's what happened.
Now before we veer into a debate about bubble-wrapping children,
Let's just stay with the jarts.
Because there's a Buddhist concept that closely relates to them.
First and second darts.
The idea is that when something happens,
You often have an emotional response to it.
That is the first dart.
Emotions happen.
Of course they happen differently for different people,
But emotions happen.
And those feelings might be pleasant.
Happiness.
Joy.
Good surprise.
Those feelings might not be pleasant.
Sadness.
Grief.
Disgust.
Anger.
But because we are alive.
Because things happen to us,
Emotions are unavoidable.
Emotions are the first dart.
The second dart includes the thoughts or judgments about the emotion.
This could be thought of as the self-inflicted jart.
So the first dart is,
The person that I love left me.
I am sad.
Not pleasant,
But completely understandable,
Right?
But sometimes we don't stop there.
We throw the second dart.
You are such a horrible person,
That's why the person left you.
And why no one in the whole wide world likes you.
Here's another example.
First dart.
I am envious of my friends' good news,
Because I've been working toward the same thing,
And it hasn't happened for me yet.
The jart dart.
You are the worst person ever.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
And the thing is,
A person can even do this with the good stuff.
First dart.
Oh my gosh,
I am so happy.
They liked my work.
Second dart.
I am such a fraud.
It won't be long until everyone figures it out.
You might be so used to using that second dart that you don't even notice the difference between the two.
Sadness,
Joy,
Anger,
Fear,
All of those will come and more.
It's part of what being a human is.
And life can hurt.
We might be tempted to try and bubble wrap ourselves by being perfect or by turning to an addiction.
Anything to prevent or make it stop.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The first darts will come.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And that's one of the best ways to let them come and go.
To breathe through them.
To let the things wash over you and then go on their way.
But what we can ask is to notice when we pick up the 12-inch metal dart.
To not hurl it at our tender selves.
You do not need more wounds.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Life happens.
Emotions happen.
First darts happen.
Inhale.
Exhale.
You do not need more wounds.
So put down the jart,
My friend.
Put down the jart.
Namaste.
