If something
repeatedly
sets you on fire,
whether you burn
with passion
or with anger,
wait until
the embers cool
and then try
to discover
the genesis
of the first spark,
as well as
the internal
and external
conditions
that allowed the fire
to burn and spread
so easily.
Only through reflection
can we grow
to understand
these infernos
and, in time,
to master them.
If we burn
with passion
but do not reflect
on the flames,
we may miss
clear signs
that point
to our purpose
in life,
to what we were
created
to do,
leaving us wanderers
who never quite know
in what direction
we are traveling.
If we burn
with anger
but do not reflect
on the flames,
we will forever be
at the mercy
of our emotions
and those who know
how to exploit them,
able to be jerked
from here to there
like a dog
on a chain leash.
While many of us
might promise
extravagant riches
that we do not possess
in order to gain
the ability
to tame these fires,
how many of us
would give
even five minutes
of our time,
which we do possess
and can dispose of
freely and immediately,
to acquire
this ability?
