Mai Pen Lai

Mai pen lai-to the Thais these three words encompass a way of life. They mean simply "never mind". Not in the typical American sense of "never mind! Ill do it myself", but rather, "never mind, drop-it-and get-on-with life". Pretty simple concept actually.

I don't really know why we need to go over events, words, and thoughts until they become a jumble in our minds. Always planning, angling, and searching for a solution for actions done by us and done to us. It is much simpler to take the attitude of mai pen lai. Move on, don't reach for closure because in the end it doesn't really matter, don't live with regrets, because in the end, you can't go back. Thoughts and words about the past and the future are just that, thoughts. Not allowing us to see the beauty in the moment.

I am sitting in my gorgeous yard right now. The sun has started to trace its way across the sky and I see the perfection. Looking with fresh eyes everyday, may just be the secret to bliss.

And yet, my little corner of the world has me yearning for faraway corners soon to be explored. I can see the ocean in my mind,tiny little sea towns nestled in a corner of the world with perfect waves to ride upon. Sometimes I think about the choices made for me before I was even born and wonder. If I had been born to a coastal family, how different the paths would have been for me. I might have been a sea biologist, I might have been a professional beach bum. Who knows how my life would have unraveled. I heard once that people are born to different landscapes. If you are a mountain person, you will never feel quite at home near the water. If you are a water person, the desert will dry your soul. If you are a desert person, reveling in the sun-burnt landscape, the mountains will cloister your thoughts, you will feel as though you are trapped. I am a water person and when I see the ocean after a long separation, I feel tears springing to my eyes.

Mai pen lai. In the end, we all land where we are meant to be at the time. Life is not stationary, but rather fluid and filled with grace. Never mind, I am happy where I am now, on a scale of 1-10, I am an 8.5. Most of the people on earth are a 5-6.5. I have it good, I have it great. And when you land at happiness their are no words. Only unhapiness has meaning, which is why we feel so compelled to talk about it.

Someday I will land near the ocean, it is where I want to die. But for now, never mind. I can't plan and I can't yearn for it. If I do that, I will miss the beauty around me, where I am, where I am meant to be at this moment in my life.

Peace,

Lara