This node/WU's title is taken from Neon Genesis Evangelion (e.14). It is an English translation from the original Japanese language, and therefore shouldn't be considered a direct quote so much as an interpretation. I have virtually no knowledge of Japanese, and it's possible that some level of meaning or idiomatic nuance was lost in translation. I hope I haven't misinterpreted it myself by proxy, but I give full credit to the source either way.
__________________________________________________________________________________
If I could tell you one thing, I'd tell you
the more things
change the more they stay the same.
If I could tell you two things I'd
tell you that, and
god bless you.
I don't say it to others very
often. Perhaps not often enough.
If I could tell you three things I'd
tell you that, and
bon voyage.
If I could tell you four things I'd tell you that, and
that it would do you some good to manage your expectations. If
your ability to enjoy the moment is predicated upon the moment itself,
upon the quality of the moment or how it compares to the way you imagined it
would be, that makes it so much harder to enjoy the moment. Even
if things go perfectly. Even with the moment of relief that comes after
holding so much worry (which was ultimately manifested from those expectations and from
the anxiety about all the ways things could go wrong). That relief is unsustainable.
You'll just find yourself going right back to worrying. Holding out for hope that you might feel such relief again. Caught up in the vicious cycle of it, how it feeds your insecurities.
But if you can just surrender to the moment - accept the chaos and the
joy and the utterly wonderful unknown, come what may. Then you'll be
able to live.
Don't choose to blame others for your suffering. Everyone is only being themselves, and everyone is suffering in their own way. If I could tell you five things, well, I wouldn't. I'd say four things and leave it at that.
But it's
been true
more often than not
that when I've given you
advice
I've been talking to myself
as much as I've been talking to you,
honestly.
August, 2020