The season of celebration amazed at all the ways Life reminds me to be positive and to look at what is good in my life instead of what is not.
Yesterday I had a task to do that I was not looking forward to, that involved many hours of driving to meet briefly with someone I did not want to spend any time with at all, only to turn around and drive back home.
After ruminating about this, I finally came to the realization that I could make the best of the situation and even if the task was unpleasant, I could find a way to keep myself centered, instead of all wound up as I went though my day.
I planned the trip with a stop at the home of a friend along my way, where I had a cup of tea, making the journey seem shorter.
When I mentioned the task to another friend, she offered to accompany me part way. If I would drive to her home in Guelph, she would drive me the rest of the way, we could visit, and have a lovely lunch out afterwards, which we did. She is excited about a course she is taking online with Pema Chodrun, a Buddhist nun who has an abbey in Nova Scotia. I had read about Pema, but had not heard her speak. After hearing how this work is uplifting my friend, I made a point of watching a few of her short YouTube vidoes last night, and I can see what is compelling about her humour and kindness. The weather held for my travel home, so I was not driving in the predicted rain, but rather along quiet country roads, past fields green with young wheat, past wind rumpled lakes, past countless wild flowers, farm houses, and forests.
On the way home several long V’s of Canada geese flew overhead, and I rolled down my windows to hear them honking. I have a special affinity for great blue herons, and a heron flew low and long beside me and then took off over a copse of trees, like a special gift to me from Nature. When I arrived home the house was clean and all was well. In my absence my family had had a good day, too, and we were glad to see each other.
I suspect that any time I am fretting about a task I have to do, or a situation in which I find myself, if I simply look for the good Anyway, and expect things to work out, they mostly will and do.
Note to self: fret and fuss if I feel I must, then look for what is still good and right in my world. I might be surprised by how many things I see.