When the World Surprises You

I have had many things to consider of late, which included deciding what options there are (of course countless) and which I might choose.  Then I had an epiphony.  That is all in the future and I can do nothing about it until the future is unveiled in the current moment.

I have lived in my neighborhood for 10 years and really only in the months since the pandemic have I made some friends here.  I met one lady about 8 or 9 year ago as I was walking and she was gardening in her front yard.  My gardening friend introduced me to another lady just before the friend moved to Florida to be closer to family.  Life happened including three more grandchildren being born, my retirement from my day job, starting a new private practice and dealing with my body aging.

I became reacquainted with the other lady my gardening friend introduced me to in the last few weeks because she is the caregiver to a herd of feral cats in the hood. I saw her feeding them and asked her questions which she happily answered. She is very conscientious about calling Animal Control to get the kittens neutered as soon as they are old enough.  The band of cats varies from 8 to 2.  As we became more comfortable chatting, she invited me to walk with her and a couple of other ladies.  Last week I started walking with the three ladies.  I found that I have things in common with them besides our age.  Suddenly those school days when my grands are busy have some interesting things to explore.  I tend to get bored when I am not seeing clients on my two workdays or having grand time.  

It is fun to see what the universe has up its sleeve.  I know we have had our fill of anxiety provoking news, which is why I take in very little of it.  Trust me, you will still know what  is going on.  We have had our fill of worries about whether we will live or die if we get infected with the disease of the day.  To counter the negative, I encourage you to live in the moment.  Practice gratitude every morning as you sit for a bit to get calm and settled within yourself. Look in the mirror and see yourself with loving eyes - they look and feel like when you say I love you to someone you adore.  Then, say, "I love you (blank)."  Fill in the blank with your name, the name you call yourself when you like yourself at least a little.

We all talk to ourselves all the time. Those voices in your head are sometimes quite judgmental.  Sometimes they are mean.  Sometimes they are all about poor me. Tune in.  How are you speaking to yourself?  Work on getting yourself to be kind and loving when you address yourself.  The four agreements encourage us to be impeccable with our words, thoughts and actions toward self and all others.  Jean speak says impeccable means loving and kind.  The Buddha said we must first love ourselves.  Jesus said love thy neighbor like you love you.  There is no room for mean words if you do this.  It is a bit difficult to tame those unbridled inner thoughts but it is very possible.

Relax, release thoughts that contain anger, sadness, fear, shame, or guilt whether directed at you or someone else.  Watch them float away with the rest of the clouds or imagine them escaping the orbit and heading into the far ends of the galaxy.

Try it for a week.  Let me know how it goes!  Keep trying!  It gets easier and easier.