It is the very nature of peace that it cannot be disturbed! I was just sitting in the glory of the bamboo grove in my back yard (how did I get so lucky anyway?) I was meditating and having conversations with the elements. Along came walking on the path near me our delightful neighbor and her dog Flower. The dog, being a compassionate and playful one, came over and sniffed and gave a general doggy ‘hello.’ Carol, my neighbor apologized for the disruption to my peace.

As she called Flower and walked away I thought to myself, ‘Has my peace actually been disturbed?’ I supposed I could have created some disruption by thinking about how embarrassed I was to be caught red handed meditating in public. Or just been generally anxious at the lack of privacy I might decide that I have. Or, really, I could have a look and see that nothing actually happened except for a splendorous sunny afternoon and a walk. Nothing has disturbed my peace, EVER, except my own imagination of things and how they are or aren’t.

Byron Katie has a wonderful method of helping us to see how everything we believe in is true. And it’s opposite is true. And if you turn the objects around – that too is true (meaning – if you believe something about another then the same is true about you in some way).

There are so many ways in which I can convince myself something is awful. But is it really necessary? Is it necessary for me to convince myself of the awfulness of something? How beautiful would it be if we stopped awfulizing each other (‘awfulizing’ is a term stolen (borrowed) from Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy – that along with ‘musterbation’ are my favorites i.e. we don’t ‘have to’ anything).

So just remember, you don’t ‘have-to’ anything! You don’t have to consider something wrong or awful simply because all your life you’ve been told that it is. Even if I’m not getting what I want, it is not awful. There is always a blessing in everything (and believe me I’ve learned that the hard way, not from a book – but practice makes perfect). 

Blessings y’all from garden planting season in TX!

Baby steps… baby steps…