Extract Every Bit

From the Middle Way Arcana, Death; from the Vertical Oracle, Gratification:

At one time or another, everyone loses something.

~Lama Surya Das

What a bit of synchronicity to draw Death on New Year's Eve! There are many losses we mourn and some we might welcome. I imagine many people will be celebrating leaving behind the past year, as if we won't be dragging most of what we didn't like about it with us into 2022. The truth is that we've lost several things that made us feel comfortable and secure, and the year itself had nothing to do with it. Still, we demand that these things be returned to us; although they might in some form, it's not likely things will not be the same. Gratification implies that we may turn to sensual pleasures to distract or numb ourselves from what is around us. Yet perhaps our contentment lies not in pleasures, demands or resolutions, but in learning to be present with where we stand. Rather than grasping for some ephemeral future, we might take William Irvine's advice and "embrace whatever life we happen to be living and extract every bit of delight we can from it."