Cowboy in the Jungle

I’ve had several nicknames in my life. Most I didn’t like and won’t go into. My favorite by far was Cowboy. As I’ve mentioned my family had a ranch where I worked while growing up. My dad often called me Cowboy. I wear his highschool graduation ring daily. Their mascot was The Cowboys. It’s a great reminder of him and all we shared together.

One of my favorite songs is by Jimmy Buffett, Cowboy in the Jungle. I identify strongly with many of the lyrics. “There’s a cowboy in the jungle and he looks so out of place.” A jungle is a messy place with much ambiguity, like most of the world. My nature is to be orderly, especially mentally. I really like to have clear answers to my questions and be able to see far down the road. A jungle is a place where vision is limited.

Another verse says, “With no plans for the future, he still seems in control. From a Bronco ride to a ten foot tide he just had to learn to roll.” If you’ve read my posts, you know, being in the present and dealing with things as they are, is a major overriding theme for me. I’m a Cowboy who had to learn to roll. I understand that control is mostly an illusion. Surrendering to the present and rolling with it is the best way for me to live.

“I don’t want to live on that kind of island. I don’t want to swim in a roped off sea……..I’ve got to be where the wind and the water are free.” This is in direct relation to my first and most important post, How many fingers do you see? It’s about looking beyond the obvious and seeing what others choose not to see. Thinking freely and going beyond thought.

“Living it day to day. And still twenty four hours, maybe sixty good years, it’s really not that long a stay.” My life is literally a fleeting experience. It’s only vapor, per the bible verse James 4:14. I’ve done a better job at wrapping my mind around that fact and living accordingly.

“Roll with the punches, play all of his hunches. Make the best of whatever came his way. What he lacked in ambition, he made up with intuition. Plowing straight ahead, come what may.” By nature I am a thought centered person. I live in my head. I have learned to be more intuitive. I am in touch with that part of me that is beyond thought. I pay attention to it. My plan for life is malleable. Less blind ambition, more intuition.

I am pleased with who I am regarding the lyrics I’ve mentioned. I am more whole. Reading and thought have helped me discover these ideas, but meditation has made implementation possible and real. It’s taken me places and changed me in ways that hadn’t happened with years of thought. I like being a Cowboy in the jungle.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV87lkJFWAs

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.