“Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.” Zen Proverb
Marie Kondo instructs us to go through our clutter and ask, “does this still serve me?” In doing so I have come across things my past and due to the knowledge, I have obtained take on a whole other meaning. Here is one of those instances.
Cottleston Pie by A.A. Milne
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fish can’t whistle and neither can I.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
Why does a chicken, I don’t know why.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
In reading the book “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff. He allows us to revisit the lessons that Pooh was attempting to teach us from his adventures in Pooh Corner with Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga & Roo and Christopher Robin. Let’s explore one together called the Cottleston Pie Principle.
And here’s the explanation, according to the book “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff.
“A fly can’t bird but a bird can fly.” Very simple. It’s obvious, isn’t it? And yet, you’d be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.
It is useless to try to make things into ways they’re not. Everything has its own place and function, including people, even if they don’t realize it, and that’s why they keep the wrong job or stay in the wrong marriage or relationships. You need to learn to know and respect your Inner Nature. When you do so, you know where you belong and where you don’t belong.
Respect yourself, respect your Inner Nature. Make friends with what you are, because that’s the only thing you have.
“A fish can’t whistle and neither can I”. This means “I have certain limitations, and I know what they are”. There’s nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you’re a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren’t designed for. That doesn’t mean that we need to stop changing and improving. It just means that we need to recognize what’s there. The wise know their limitations, the foolish ignore it…
Respect your limitations, respect what you can’t do. If you know what is that you can’t do, you’ll work on it, and that will save you from trouble.
“Why does a chicken, I don’t know why”. Why does a chicken do what it does? You don’t know? Neither do I. Neither does anyone else. The important thing is that we don’t really need to know. We don’t need to play Abstract Philosopher, asking unnecessary questions and coming up with meaningless answers. Cottleston Pie means Inner Nature, and if you substitute the words in the song, you’ll get that Inner Nature is the answer to the riddles!
Stop trying to find an explanation for everything, stop over analyzing, things are as they are. Learn to accept them as they go.
We often forget the most important of our childhood lessons until we clear the clutter. All we must do is recognize Inner Nature and work with things as they are- after all "You can't get very far if you don't know who you are"
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