just be it Just Be It is a practice of presence that recognizes the limits of language. When aware of silence there is a state of inner still alertness. You are wholeheartedly present.

I’m now almost sixty.

They say that’s when a life lived well brings one to elderhood.

Well, if anyone’s interested, here’s my ‘used to, but now’ reflection.

I used to think there were answers, now I find there’s just deeper questions

I used to think my job was to fix things, now I find it’s to be present and listen

I used to think I was right and my job was to change others to think like me

Now I find it’s better to meet in the field between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’

I used to hate being alone, now I find I’m never alone

I used to think I owned things, now I find I never did and never will

I used to think the good approval of friends and family made me better

Now I find it’s all up to me to make me (us) better

I used to hate it when I reached out to others and received no reply

Now I work to accept it

I used to be sloppy in my speech, now I learn it’s better to be quiet

I used to hold my speech in difficult situations, now I learn to listen deeply with my heart

To polish the meaning and purpose of what I say

I used to become angry with my enemies, now I learn they’re my gift for going deeper

I used to take things for granted, now I know nothing’s to be taken for granted

I used to think I was nobody, now I know I’m somebody

I used to think I was somebody, now I know I’m somebody else

I used to think God was ‘up there’, now I feel God everywhere

I used to think there was a goal, now I ‘feel’ there’s just the journey

I used to be filled with ambition, now I’m filled with duty to honor grace given