The boy’s mother is getting ever more frustrated with her son, Silvio. His behaviour is getting ridiculous.
‘I’ve just got engaged, mother!’ he says. ‘Isn’t it so wonderful?’
‘You got engaged to someone else yesterday.’
‘I did, yes, but this is different.’
‘And Silvio, have you forgotten you got engaged twice last Sunday?’
‘I know, I know and they were both dear people; very dear.’
‘I’ve lost count of your engagements.’
‘That’s possible, mother, but I tell you, this one’s the girl of my dreams.’
‘So were the others, Silvio. You were passionate about them all.’
‘But this time it’s really real.’
‘Until the next one! You don’t have to get engaged every time you meet a girl, Silvio. You could just have coffee.’
Watching thoughts come and go, without engaging with them, frees us from brooding.
This is the thing: we don’t have to get engaged.
