It was a hot day in Chicago. As I walked East, I decided to enjoy the beautiful garden cared for by the Seniors at the Mather center. What a lovely spot to take ten minutes to meditate from a heart of gratitude and the goodness of my highest aim in life. Scorching heat but a bench in the shade was very inviting. I sat down, closed my eyes took three slow deep breaths.
Ouch. A fly bit my leg. Then another. Soon I was full time shooing flies and had lost the calm of the moment. I had to get up and continue my walk. Meditation would have to wait for fly less environment.
I continued my walk, using the biting fly as a metaphor for all the little niggly things that trigger inner screams, stop this, do that. Not now, later, no, right now, later, continuous competing demands and temptations for my limited focus.
These phantoms all “demand” my attention. Do they warrant it? Many of these emotional biting flies are insignificant in the big picture but seem so important in the moment. If I could travel back to this time last year and take a glance at all the little prickly flies, it would amaze me just how unimportant many of them truly are.
I invite you to do that. List your worries one year, 5 years, 10 years ago. Really?
Life in the land of gravity, friction, and mortality is an exciting, rewarding adventure. We perceive the ideal and are called to express our highest and best in the world. The environment in the world is mostly supportive but never perfect.
As the late, great Jim Rohn used to say, “when you get to set up your own universe, you can do it your way.” You can wait for your environment to be perfectly suited to your need, or in the meantime, do your best with the world as you find it and paint your masterpiece on blemished canvas.
Flies bite.
Let’s work with that and respond by focusing a bit more today on what truly matters most.
As always, we’d love to hear from you.
– Diamond Mind Thomas
