There is a saying, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. It is a call for a different sort of way of being than we are naturally accustomed in life. It asks for us to be tentative in how we relate to the world and to accept its conditions with an understanding that all of its set rules are both arbitrary and utterly essential. For it is society which, having rolled together its inherited customs and norms, believes that they are a fact of reality. For an honest man they are subjective laws which are no less or more important to follow than any other. Yet this bees hive depends on all of these factors to stay as they are and continue to move in their current direction of growth and development. They all mesh together in some shape and form which often defies our sense of logic and reason. Who is a single man to upset the order of things, anyway?

A man in himself has different concerns than those of society as a whole. A mistake we make is when we wrap ourselves around any and all of the trivial criticisms that are easily spot out in the midst of city life. There are so many awkward things to point to as ‘wrong’ or in need of improvement or correction. It is so easy to see them in plain sight and to wear a frown as the kind of response a spoiled infant gives off to something not of its satisfaction. It is quite idiotic, in fact, for a sober man in this world to complain or to grow fickle towards anything which is larger in size and scope to what can be built by his own hands. The rest is a giant creature which functions and operates at a higher level than a single man’s limited perspective can fully comprehend.

When we find ourselves in new circumstances in life we have to go with the flow, with an understanding that nothing is perfect and that often the greatest ills which befall us are due to our lack of foresight and our indulgence in high expectations. A man who takes whatever life brings him with a tentative acceptance, and not merely a grain of salt, has the advantage of moving towards opportunities with the best of intentions and the least anticipation. One of the crucial keys of going with the flow is to realize we almost always fumble in our minds and don’t realize how much we exaggerate our capacity to see the big picture. For when you drive one day on a major road, racing to your destination, a bird a mile up above you will be able to see the patterns of your journey in a way impossible for you to do.

We profit by thinking less and feeling more, as our thoughts are what sow the reaped sufferings which are, as a matter of fact, unnecessary and untrue. There is a tainted lens by which we perceive the coloured events of this world, and what is often, for example, blue we exaggerate to another colour altogether. Without being aware of this fact, and unknowingly placing bets on the notion that what we believe is correct and on the mark, we plan to fail from the very start. A man does not have much control on the situation as he is made to believe, nor does he necessarily have a destiny which overrides the needs of the greater majority. He must simply nod with a smile as he walks down the valleys and up the mountains of the journey he is on, and remember that it is a tremendously enormous grace simply to be here in the first place.