We’ve already had a tsunami in Hawaii, devastating earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, and those are only the disasters being reported by CNN.   It’s all part of the year of the Metal Tiger.  This isn’t going to be easy for any of us, and that’s why I suggest buckle up.  Things will be moving quickly, could be disastrous or disquieting; beneficial or catastrophic.

We’re all aware that there is more happening in the world than we can possibly grok, and we should not have to.  We are in the Information Age and we are having our own tsunami of information – most of it irrelevant to our existence.  When I wrote Pay Attention, I meant it as a life ring for what can become a tsunami of overwhelm.

We exist in the center of 3 cycles.  The innermost is ourselves, alone in the world.  The second one contains our friends, neighbors, our local community. And the 3rd is the circle that contains the world.  We have great influence on the first circle, and we can influence the second.  Bu we have no effect on the 3rd circle.  Yet many of us waste our time and energy bemoaning “those dupes in Washington” or “that crazy governor” and on and on.  When we realize using our energy in this way is pouring money down a toilet, it becomes obvious if we want to have any effect at all, we need to work within the circles where we can have a real effect.

Paying Attention can help.  This is something I need to continually remind myself of, and I hope, writing this, it helps you well.  Happy Tigers!, Or, as e.e.cummings said: