I am grateful for all I encounter in this life
But I bow in most gratitude to the difficulties.
Like stumbling upon a rock on a path,
They cause me to stop and pay attention.
Look, they say. Open your eyes and see what is here.
Then I remember to do so.
Oh, my walk is like this now?
I smile, breathe, and continue on.
Life used to be so simple.
Really? Or does blinkered memory make it so?
Just being alive, no matter your situation, entails mess.
Complications always arise,
And our control is often more limited than we imagine.
If we learn to handle the uncertain ground that is existence,
Then we can find meaning and connection.
We can let go of fear and instead face change
With openness, resoluteness, and acceptance.
What if we turn the fight into a dance?
Hear songs of kindness, joy, and community rather than tunes of cruelty, misery, and division?
The hard road of suffering is our common path, but how we travel it depends on us.
Pay attention. The choice is mine and yours and ours.
It can begin with a single breath.
How to quiet my mind?
It often seems like a flock of restless birds:
The thoughts dart here and there, as they will.
I breathe and bid them fly away,
Yet they perch to preen and call,
Gently mocking my efforts.
Perhaps the greater wisdom
Says simply to allow the birds
To be as they are
And expand my limited meditation.
RANT WARNING!
Every morning my dog and I take a long walk on the Creeper Trail. The Creeper is one of the many things I love about Abingdon. It’s a great place to walk and enjoy the beauty of our gorgeous area. We generally go early before 8AM to avoid others and before the heat of the day becomes oppressive. At that time of the morning traffic is usually light on the trail and to and from the trail. (I live less than a block from the trail entrance so we walk.)
This morning I counted FOUR people on their cell phones! I wanted to say, “You’re on the Creeper! Put your phone away!” For one thing, it is DANGEROUS. We get bikers on the trail frequently. I’m sorry to say that most I’ve encountered do NOT signal when passing, though trail rules (clearly posted at the head of the trail) state that they must do so. I’ve almost been hit several times though no fault of my own. My dog and I walk well to the right; she is on a VERY close lead (not a free-ranging retractable lead like some dogs I’ve encountered); I try to be alert to my surroundings. But bikers are quiet and sometimes going extremely fast. If you don’t hear them, then you get no warning. So a walker paying attention to his phone in the middle of trail (and it is narrow in places) could be toast.
For another thing, and this is purely a personal opinion, YOU ARE ON THE CREEPER, for fuck’s sake. If you want just a place to get your exercise, there is a macadamized track at the Coome’s Center. Put the phone away for the duration of your walk. Take time to disengage. Look at the trees, fields, and squirrels. Smell the different aromas of the trail (this morning was distinctly musky). Greet your fellow trail denizens. BREATHE……and remember that there is a life beyond the electronic world. (And I say that despite my love of the internet.)