Overwhelmingly my heart screams - "STOP CHOKING ME!", yet my mind tightens its grip. Out of balance, neither works well. Internal yin & yang trying to co-exist in the same body. My heart must learn to think and my mind must learn to love, or surely I'm on the path to eternal sorrow. It's as simple as breathing underwater with an air tank - all about retraining the mind and body to feel when it would normally be wrought with panic. Perhaps cooperation is the key, with a dose of faith, and safety is the destination.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Hurried Heart
Another hectic morning was looming as I hurriedly ran out of the house, arms full of the supplies I would need to run my errands. I looked down as I locked the front door, and noticed an unwelcome gift from my cat – a large dead rat lay next to my front walkway. I knew I didn’t have the time to deal with it right then, so I made a silent promise to take care of it as soon as I returned. I also made a mental note to add a pet store errand to my list today to purchase a collar with a bell on it, so I wouldn’t have to handle this again in the future.
Upon returning home and getting settled, my mind travelled to the chore of disposing the disgusting, potentially diseased, dead animal, who quite easily matched the “rat” as opposed to “mouse” category, by my front walk. Shovel in hand, I opened the front door, facing a task I did not want to do. Rain was pouring down now, heavily, so I went back in to get a raincoat. When I reappeared, I looked down at the lifeless creature.
The rain had smoothed its soft gray fur in a line down its neck and back, appearing as if someone had made a gentle part to expose delicate white skin. Raindrops continued to fall on its velvety tender ears and they bent with the pressure of each drop, then back up again. I felt my heart start to soften for this hapless creature who met an untimely death after years of surviving on this planet. Its long black whiskers no longer twitched, and its dark eyes held no sight. In this moment, I realized that this little life, as all life, is sacred and in need of respect. I prepared the earth for its burial and sent a silent prayer to the heavens for its tiny soul.
In this experience I realized that there are still times when I judge the moment based on my own perceptions, my own reality. These usually happen when I am in a hurry, caught up in my world of things that need to be done, schedules that need to be kept, time that needs to be spent certain ways. When I take a moment to slow down, to breathe, to focus – awareness will creep in and whisper a life lesson into my ear. As we all go through our hurried days, are there not more times like these, when we can see the alternative to our own perceptions, our own way of seeing our world, and open our hearts to new insights? ---Angela Frisby
Upon returning home and getting settled, my mind travelled to the chore of disposing the disgusting, potentially diseased, dead animal, who quite easily matched the “rat” as opposed to “mouse” category, by my front walk. Shovel in hand, I opened the front door, facing a task I did not want to do. Rain was pouring down now, heavily, so I went back in to get a raincoat. When I reappeared, I looked down at the lifeless creature.
The rain had smoothed its soft gray fur in a line down its neck and back, appearing as if someone had made a gentle part to expose delicate white skin. Raindrops continued to fall on its velvety tender ears and they bent with the pressure of each drop, then back up again. I felt my heart start to soften for this hapless creature who met an untimely death after years of surviving on this planet. Its long black whiskers no longer twitched, and its dark eyes held no sight. In this moment, I realized that this little life, as all life, is sacred and in need of respect. I prepared the earth for its burial and sent a silent prayer to the heavens for its tiny soul.
In this experience I realized that there are still times when I judge the moment based on my own perceptions, my own reality. These usually happen when I am in a hurry, caught up in my world of things that need to be done, schedules that need to be kept, time that needs to be spent certain ways. When I take a moment to slow down, to breathe, to focus – awareness will creep in and whisper a life lesson into my ear. As we all go through our hurried days, are there not more times like these, when we can see the alternative to our own perceptions, our own way of seeing our world, and open our hearts to new insights? ---Angela Frisby
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)