I have about 10 minutes to complete my book of hours and write here.
Here I go.
Today I am grateful for the lady that almost ploughed into me on the sidewalk and for the book, Zen Tails No Presents Please
Last night I read the book before bedtime. The bear is angry and is raging through the forest. Guru Walter Wombat just smiles as the bear threatens to punch him in the face and do other aggressive things. Guru Walter Wombat just smiles each time. He tells the bear that it’s not his birthday and if he would stop trying to give him these presents that he doesn’t want.
This morning I went for a walk with my husband. I noticed two women walking towards us. It was a narrow sidewalk. Naturally I move to the right, single file behind my husband, who is walking a little faster than me anyway, to avoid completely bumping into the women. I expected one of the women to move aside so that we could all fit on the sidewalk. But they didn’t move. They almost walked straight into my husband. We both had to move out of the way. Normally things like this would go unnoticed except that the one woman, who walked right in the middle of the sidewalk actually look irritated that we didn’t jump out of the way fast enough.
I noticed my own irritation immediately. I started to really watch myself become irritated. I was intrigued with myself. I remembered Guru Walter Wombat and laughed. Why was I accepting this “present”? It was the smallest encounter that made me grateful for paying attention to that little tweak of irritation inside of me. This incident may seem like nothing to you but how many times to we blame others or want to change the world? It starts with these small things. There are countless situations, seemingly unimportant events, where we can say “no presents please,” jump right off the sidewalk, and keep smiling.
Next time you are provoked by a small or big frustrating incident, can you be the one to make the change?
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42 days of gratitude…giving thanks to it ALL.
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