Tomorrow I see the Dalai Lama at SDSU. The tickets practically fell into my lap – and I thought why not? It’s an opportunity for adventure. Kind of like how I see being a Money Native – seeking opportunities to make money and reaping some of the fruits from it. I should discuss this with the Dalai Lama. I’ll tell him that Money Native has both Buddhist and improvisational comedy influences. I like the Buddhist teaching that compassionate action means to work with rather than struggle against whatever is in front of you. It’s not so different than in improvisational comedy class where I was told “Dare to suck big!“ It means that if you’re doing an improv skit and someone says to you, “Do you want to pet my brown rabbit?” You don’t say, “That’s not a rabbit, that’s thin air!” You say, “Yes, I’d love to pet your rabbit! And I’d love to feed it some of the magic corn that I have in my pocket.” and that is when the fun begins.
This practice of working with what you’ve got, is the fertile ground for opportunity. You treat who you’re with as a partner, and work with not control what will happen next. It isn’t like problem solving , opportunity is about keeping our heart and mind open to whatever comes next and trusting that this is leading you to where you need to go. And if it doesn’t work out well, you might have a good laugh anyway. I’ll let you know what the Dalai Lama thinks when I tell him to, “Dare to Suck Big!”