Philosophical Dilemma

Let's imagine a situation.

You're out on the street, here in Calgary, in winter. And you're naked. It's cold. Really cold. And a man walks by and offers you a really really nice parka. Waterproof, windproof, fur-lined, even. It's the nicest warmest thing you've ever seen.

But you can only wear it for 20 hours.

Do you take it?

After all, it's 20 hours that you didn't have before where you feel warm, and cared for, and safe. How can you say no? Isn't that just pride?

But when the 20 hours is up, how much harder is it to give the coat back? Surely, in an ideal Taoist world, you would be simply happy to have had those 20 hours at all, and wholly grateful to the man who gave them to you.

But how much crueler is the bite of the wind when you're back out there naked again... How can you not, at least for a moment, feel a stab of bitterness, longing for that warmth again? It's wrong, of course, because you still have more than you had before. And it's ungenerous to want more from a gift than is offered.

But it's cold out there, friends. And if I am sad, it will pass. I am grateful. I'm just getting used to the cold.

- Falcon