A Sunday of rest...

LOL...I love this. It hangs on the wall between my dining room and living room. The first time I heard it I fell over laughing. I thought YES!!


I came across this plaque at a time when I was having some less than satisfactory dealings with some people who were (I thought) my friends. I was in that place of not knowing who to trust or not to trust, who to believe ...well--you know. We've probably all been there, at one time or another in our lives. Unless of course we live on some high spiritual mountaintop, and never have to deal with other human beings. (cough) That's certainly not my story. lol

Anyway...I remembered thinking how great it would be if there some little thing...some little affectation maybe, that could help us recognize the folks who don't really love us. Some little LIMP, for instance. lol But it isn't like that, is it? So we all muddle through as best we can, and we get our feelings hurt and our toes stepped on and maybe we retaliate and maybe we don't. And it's all just so exhausting! Trying to figure things like this out can be frustrating (not to mention, time consuming). So what to do?


I read something once on my Buddhist journey that talked about things like allowing each person we meet to be who they are, and where they are. Because we are all on a journey in this life, not all going the same way or to the same destination necessarily, but still a journey nonetheless. SO my ideal behavior here is to honor everyone wherever they are on THEIR journey. To respect all human beings and to have compassion for the ones that have lost themselves on the way. And to keep my mind focused on my own journey. Not their journey, or where I think they should be going. But to stay where my feet are, and to honor all living things. And that includes animals. And the planet. And my rude neighbors. lol

When I can remember to do this, it makes my path a much smoother place to walk. It makes me look at the people around me through God's eyes. Someone reminded me once that we..."Have to crawl before we walk." And it's true. Gandhi said we .."Have to BE the change we want to see in the world." And I know that when all a person knows is one way of being, and never sees any other way, they will think that their way is the only way. And so it becomes my responsibility to "Be the change" and in most cases that merely means that I have to be kind, and be honest, and be loving. Not just to the ones who love me, but more importantly, to the ones who really don't. And here's another little gem that a woman, a complete stranger to me, dropped in my lap one day. She looked at me and said, "Hurt people, hurt people." And when I can pair up these things, it teaches me to be compassionate. It gives me a little more understanding of why people do what they do sometimes. And I can back off and shut down my ego-reactor and say a little prayer. For health. And for healing.


And then there are days when I just look for the turned ankles....





Namaste.