Bondage

 I have heard people talk about being “happy, joyous, and free.”  I have come to realize that “free” does not mean that the things which bother me go away, but rather that I have a change of attitude.  Why am I letting something put me into bondage with discontent?  I used to live in a neighborhood that had nightly barking dogs.  Also, there were trains passing through town quite near to us and sounding their horn for car traffic to beware.  Another place I lived had a band garage practicing with a loud drummer.  At first, in each of these instances, my life was in ruins and there would be no sleep.  Why was I in an emotional uproar?  I did some introspection and realized that my goal was stark silence and I had no control over the noise.  Solution?  I dropped my goal.  Life is noisy. Dogs bark at stuff.  Trains are practicing safety as they freight things that might be useful to me.  Drummers practice to improve.  I let go of control.  Soon enough, I began to sleep through it all.  And the world did not change to meet my demands.