JAN’S FRESH REAL NEWS

                       © 2001: Jan Cox
                                           ***************************************************

October 10, 2001.
 

                      The cure for all frustration is action,
                        (and if it is not --  you're a dead man),
and instinctively of this is the body fully aware & ready to act,
but above the chin this knowledge is shakey.
When they reach their toleration limit of frustration
not only are routine physically oriented men inclined to take action of some sort -- almost any sort --
a more specific, colloquial expression of their feeling has been frequently thus put: "Let's do something --  even if its wrong!"
evidencing their own unanalyzed allegiance to the paragraph's opening statement, in that it is finally better to take action that may even prove to be ill appropriate than it is to
take no action at all.
When Alexander-the-prototypical-physical-man
cut the Gordian Knot with his sword,
he did not solve the problem of untying it,
but he did solve the problem of him being frustrated by
his inability to do so.

Mere action will not solve every problem, but it will relieve the frustration of being rendered immobile by
a present inability TO solve the problem.
Every real problem faced by man either can or cannot be solved,
and only the deranged are frustrated by this inescapable reality;
but not so with the problems unique to man's thoughts,
for in that they have no solutions,
frustration is their natural component.
Thus do all men live with varying degrees of frustration,
(according to the degree to which they
depend-on & take-seriously, a thought-based view of life),
some of it inherent to their profession,
(such as rabbi, educator, reformer, critic & salesmen of all sorts),
but scarce are they whose frustration motivates them to undertake a campaign to eradicate it entirely from their lives,
(which can only be done via one, quite specific activity,
and one which has never had a sizable following).

The frustration of not knowing how to repair a piece of machinery
is lessened if some effort is made in that direction,
as opposed to simply sitting there, impotently staring at it,
and so too with those with that certain-hunger
to see through the haze that surrounds & clouds a full understanding, and thus,  full acceptance of life;
a man of this small band should take to private heart the line:
                "The cure for all frustration is action"
for he is faced with a singular potential frustration of sitting and staring impotently at himself, (who he believes needs repair),
and having no clear idea what to do  --  tends to do nothing --
nothing other than wallow in the repetitious thoughts
indicative of his frustration.

Even they have an unwitting awareness of the power of action
which is commonly reflected in their purchasing of books,
(for instance); a man whose adopted nominal view is that he seeks Enlightenment feels he is accomplishing something to this end by getting up; leaving the house; going to a book store;
carefully studying what is available, then spending money he has received in exchange for giving up part of his life for the object;
although not realized: the action exerted in obtaining the book
gives to most such readers as much or more gratification than does the perusal of its words,
(similarly with the pleasure of going to see a far away,
famous guru-of-Enlightenment;
the reward comes primarily from the effort expended in
making the journey),
but to the few-amongst-the-few
the question is: How to actually solve the frustration rather than illusionarily so by such ill directed activities as the just noted.

Here is where the: "Do something  --  anything!
But do something" principal comes most aptly in.
The, "anything" must be something that you are not already
up to your mental arm pits in doing,
(secondary note should also be made of the fact that
even the special, metaphysical-frustration of the few,
[when it becomes intolerable],
can always be temporarily cured by mere physical activity,
[if trying to "wake-up" is driving you nuts again, 
then go run 'til you're ready to drop, and the feeling will pass];
on a bit more dramatic scale: those who regularly hear
god talking to them would quickly lose their contact
if they became ditch diggers......which is why they don't),
the "anything" simply must be something new to your thinking --
and it truly does not matter what.

Think of how it would be if something that you believe you unquestionably know to be true was not;
if some significant aspect of life was the exact opposite of how
you unthinkingly are certain it is,
(the most delicious example is to picture the possibility that everyone else in the world is awake and enlightened
and understands what is going on,
and you are the only person who does not,
and as ridiculous as it sounds to the few  --  it is not impossible --
--  it is not impossible,
for if the whole thing was just the opposite of how you & the few see it to be, you would have no way of realizing it;
it could be true --  and you would never know it,
but you can think about the possibility, and this is about as "new" & different as you can get from your usual mental activity;
[but still, 'tis always most beneficial to come up with your own --
.........but this one still is prime cut]).
 

To begin to exercise such mental action will be for most people,
their first experience with almost  --  actually thinking!
and from there, it is not all that far to starting to actually --  see
what is going on in and around you that is normally out of men's
routine mental sight.

Don't just sit there impotently & frustratingly mired in the same old repetitive thoughts that life sends through you
for no matter how accustomed you are to taking them as accurate
representations of how things are --  they are INaccurate;
no matter what they are, if you have had them before
and find them acceptable --  they are inaccurate;
they cause dizziness; disorientation; confusion; fear,
and eventually, blindness; total mental blindness;
your physical eyes see, but your mind can make no sense of it.

Act --   mentally act;
always be doing something ---  anything other than:
sitting there sunk  --  in your own repetitive funk.
Cut your own mental Gordian Knots --  as they appear --
by doing something  ---
anything other than just sitting there pitifully  --
just you and your old familiar thoughts....................alone.
 

                                                J
 
 
 
 
 

(Those who begin to catch on to what is going on gradually develop an attitude toward the thoughts that
automatically pass through them that could be somewhat expressed by a dismissive wave of the hand
and the good natured comment;  "Aw --  get outta here.")