I love watching nature shows. It is an opportunity for me to see animals in their natural habitats. We can see how a gazelle gracefully dances through the plains; a butterfly prances around flowers; and fish swim through waters with ease. Are their movements all in a straight line? Of course not. Rocks get in the way, predators are on the hunt and a whole plethora of reasons exist why their movement is not in one direction alone. When we look at animals we can see that we too are animals. We were never meant to travel in one direction either.
It's funny how as Westerners we pride ourselves for the way we deem order in our lives. We have calendars and smart phones as reminders to keep us on schedule. We demand that everything is "just so". There is only one problem with this way of thinking—life throws us curve balls all the time, from little nuisances to seemingly catastrophic events. Let's face it, we have a choice. We can either get angry or upset at the chaos or we can take a cue from the great humpback whale and simply go with the flow. It may seem to be a daunting task to escape the conditioning most of us have had. Yet, that is why Spirituality is called a practice—we are practicing!
I know in my life I have had my fair share of disorder. Last night while teaching the telecourse Dancing with the Flow of Life with my co-teaching host Karen Hager, I was moving the class through a guided meditation. Right in the middle of my calming words, I could hear screaming children in the next room over. While I am fairly certain the people on the other end of the line did not hear any of the escapade, it was unnerving for me. For the first ten seconds or so, I complained in my mind that this was not how I wanted things to go. I wanted perfection! Then, I took a breath, calmed down and realized that this is perfection. These little quirks are what makes life interesting.
During the break, I could have gone out and screamed at the kids for their behavior, but instead I told them that I loved them and reminded them that I needed it quiet. I asked them to take three breaths and afterwards I wanted them to tell each other that they loved one another. I had to get back to my call before the break was over, but I could hear the kids through the walls tell each other that they loved one another. All was well in the world. So, instead of fighting with what life presented to me, I decided to go with the flow and it was certainly a good thing!
Then this morning rolled around and I heard that the recording from our class cut off after twenty-three minutes. My reaction? My mind conjured up the word, "Bummer." Then it occured to me that either a) there is a backup somewhere, b) we could re-record it or c) I could just let it be and move on. I have decided that however the result ends up, I am simply going to dance with the flow of life and accept however it turns out. Why bother getting all riled up over spilled milk when one has a cloth to wipe up the mess. It all works out in the end.
So, I am not sure if there will be a recording of the class, but if there is, it will be available on my site as a possible class option for you. If you are feeling called to participate in the class at your own leisure, please feel free to visit my telecourses page at www.lisatunney.com/telecourses.php. If it is there than great, and it if it is not, well as the French say, "C'est la vie," or if you prefer English, "Such as life."
Update: Two days later the recording was retrieved. So, it is available. All's well that ends well!
Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
