Gladiolous Stress

The Farmers' Market in a nearby village is located right next to the community garden. Each of the 30 little plots is completely different from its neighbors, and each one is beautiful.

A narrow flower bed separates the garden from a wide swath of grass where the Farmers' Market sets up on Sunday afternoon.

Last Sunday, i was sitting on the grass, eating dim sum, and enjoying my eye-level view of coreopsis and peonies, when Gladys rushed over and tried to prop up a broken gladiolus.

"Why can't people control their children?" she muttered. Then, seeing me, she said, "The world need more meditation."

In fact, we can't control our children. We can't control our minds. And we can't control the world.
Wanting control only leads to stress and distress.

Why do we want control? We want to stabilize our world. We want to plant a gladiolus and see it flower. But some of them won't We can't control the gladiolus, Nor the children nor the dogs who walk over them.

We can only watch the world unfold, constantly changing, according to its nature and NOT according to our wishes.

Wanting things to be different than they are is stressful. This is what's happening. Right now. Life.