Life Goes On

I was looking at general quotes and a couple really stood out to me.  One was to do with holding on and letting go.  Others were more general but for me, impactful.  I ignored the one by miss Piggy that said, “never eat more than you can lift.”  Ok good advice, but I would have thought it could go without saying.   
The first that hit me I paraphrase from a Helvelock Ellis. “The art of living lies in holding on and letting go.”  One that was on the same lines was by Lin Yutang that said, “besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.”
I must admit that is a big one for me.  Holding on and letting go is to me a picture of what I want.  Some things for sure I need to hold on to, and investigate, and make the core of my being.  Other things are distractions at best. 
Distractions to me do not mean getting rest from the battle, but fighting the wrong battle.  I agree with something a Johann Wolfgang von Gothe said.  “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, of possible, speak a few reasonable words.”  I may not seek out such things, but they are definitely refreshing and welcome.  Not a distraction but part of the stuff of life.
To me there are a couple of kinds of peace that have everything to do with distractions.  There is the peace of victory, which to me is a goodie when fighting the right cause, and there is the peace of defeat or surrender.  That to me seems to be what we are heading to at the moment.  Hoping that all will be well without making any effort to ensure things end well.
Another quote I read seems to have everything to do with this day and age. “there is more to life than increasing it’s speed.” (Mohandus K. Gandhi).  To me, never has the growth of knowledge, and the quickness of its sharing, been greater.  Yet observation tells me we are not more content as a result.
Still the point for me is how I live my life.  I will assist others where I can with a word in season, or a kindly act, but I am not answerable for another’s actions.  I am responsible for my own.