Commentary on Friday's post

I found the content for Friday's post fairly early in the day, and knew that I liked the saying. But it took me all day to meditate on it and find its meaning in my own daily life. Mostly because these days meditation happens here and there, in ten second intervals as I am carrying on the daily activities of my busy life.

To reiterate:

Blossoms come about because of a series of conditions that lead up to their blooming; leaves are blown away because a series of conditions lead up to it. Blossoms do not appear unconditioned, nor does a leaf fall of itself. So everything has its coming forth and passing away; nothing can be independent without any change.

from Sayings and Parables by the Buddhist Publication Society

Its now obvious to me that success in life/love/career/happiness... whatever one's definition of success may be (and this includes Enlightenment), does not just happen, just as that blossom does not just suddenly bloom. Diligence, hard work, sometimes luck, and always following the right path are some of the conditions that lead up to success. So too, failure or dieing out (of a relationship, of an old way of being, of a direction in life... etc.) does not just happen one day, like a dead leaf on a tree. It can come about from neglect, laziness, or maybe just a change of seasons which gradually took place. Realizing this, it calms my mind knowing that I don't have to expect the blossom to appear right now - I know that I am working toward that. And at the same time I should never be surprised if the leaf suddenly falls off the tree, the signs that such would happen most certainly should be prevalent before the event actually takes place.