Bits and Pieces

I
It is easy to move forward.
It is almost impossible to back up.

I was working on a piece of music that is based on chant.
It starts with the chant, then to modern harmonies, then back to the original chant.
But in getting back to the chant it goes through some fairly dissonant, almost jazz chords.
It occurred to me that, as in life, it is easy to move forward, that is to stay in motion, to make progress, to run around the little wheel.
But it is hard to slow down.
Very hard to stop.
And almost impossible to back up, to undo the effect of something that has been done.
It CAN be done, but not easily

Meditation is much like backing up.
Observing rather than being lost in the observation.
Watching the train go by rather than riding the train requires backing up from the tracks.
It CAN be done, but not easily.
Being the observer rather than the observed.

II
as near as I can determine, there are only five ways to succeed in life.

Intelligence
Talent
Charisma
Looks
Hard work

Some might say "luck."
But I think if "luck" comes along it will be squandered unless there is some application of one or more of the above.

III
The day will come when seconds will count
and the people who back into their garage
will have a head start over people who don't.

IV
One day my "children" will be known for one, overriding thing:
that they were my children, even for a short time, and that they utterly wasted that opportunity.