Temple V in the Mayan ruins of Tikal
yoga on the dock in San Marcos at Lago Atitlan
the gorgeous limestone pools of Semuc Champey
cacao pods on the tree
me and my new amigo Mojito!!
We are back in Montana and back in the snow!! I thought it might be time to put pea seeds in the garden, but the ground is still frozen...patience is a virtue!
Speaking of patience, are you familiar with Byron Katie's work? I highly recommend it. I took her book Loving What Is on our trip with us, but hadn't read any of it yet. I packed it in my carry-on to read on our journey home because it was the smallest book I had brought. It's funny how the universe works...really, it is. After that, I proceeded to get the most frustrated and angry I had on our trip, which was a perfect way to begin reading this book.
Before we left for our honeymoon, one of my best friends sent us on our journey with a belated wedding gift...travel bamboo silverware wrapped in a beautiful cloth. I packed it in my carry-on so we could eat an avocado before departing. I got pulled over in security, where they declared the fork a dangerous weapon. This was a shock after 3 weeks of few bureaucratic laws. I tried to communicate, but my Spanish was limited. I tried to go back upstairs to check my carry-on bag through when I realized my boarding ticket was with Michael, so I got to go through security again. When I did make it upstairs, Delta was already closed because it was less than 1 hour before departure. The woman at the gate said she could check the bag through if security would let me bring it to her. Security said she would have to come get it. This is the story and I was getting good and frustrated and mad...after all, it was a special gift that I had received just a few days before our trip. In the end, my fork stayed in Guatemala City and I pouted at the gate...until I started reading and remembering that the people who I was blaming my anger on are the very Buddhas who were gifting me with the opportunity to maintain my grace and happiness, no matter what the reality of the situation. My happiness is completely up to me; it is not dependent on the actions of others. I can still do everything in my power to keep my beloved fork and I have the choice to be happy or mad during the process. What a great lesson!
I have continued reading and practicing this wisdom whenever I notice that I am feeling pain, anger, jealousy, sadness. I find again and again that it is my thought about the situation that is causing the pain, rather than the actual situation itself and that there is a deeper truth than my original thought about the situation. Check Byron Katie out-she's got it goin' on and so do you!!
Warm blessings!! Kelly Ordway
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