Transitioning from life to quiet can be a challenge.
So take a moment to ground your body.
Turn your attention to your breath.
With an inhale,
Pull your breath deep into your center.
With a slow exhale,
Let it go.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
I've been dog sitting for a friend,
Which means I have been walking three dogs at a time.
Most of the time it goes well.
But then one of them smells something and dashes suddenly to the side,
And if I don't trip,
I have three leashes to untangle.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And,
Of course,
Everyone has to pee or poo.
While I'm doing my best to hold onto three leashes,
Open a stupid plastic poo bag and scoop up the hot stinking mess,
Everybody else is straining to move on.
Inhale.
Exhale.
This might not seem like the greatest fodder for a meditation,
But I think this is a great way to consider our relationship to multitasking.
All these different parts of your life pull you this way and that,
Now straining,
Now dashing,
Now stopping,
Now tripping you up.
And then there are the inevitable messes,
And it's up to you to stop and pick them up,
No matter how much they stink.
Inhale.
Exhale.
How many leashes are you trying to hold onto?
How many different directions are you being pulled?
Could you remove one or two so you can really focus on the ones that matter?
Inhale.
Exhale.
With all these leashes pulling you in all kinds of directions,
Do you ever get a chance to stay with the interesting,
To take the time to really know something,
To give it all of your focused attention?
Or are you ever needing to make progress,
Needing to surge forward?
Can you feel yourself choking with the stress and strain of it all?
Inhale.
Exhale.
John Muir once said,
Most people are on the world,
Not in it.
How can you be in the world?
Well,
One great chance is to live like a dog.
Walk.
Stop.
Sit.
Stay.
Breathe.
Be.
And,
Of course,
Wag.
Please don't forget to wag at the world.
Let the joy overtake your body.
Let the delight be obvious to all around.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One last thing.
While I was walking,
I also happened to see two puppies playing in a yard.
They were an adorable jumble tumble going this way and that,
And getting caught up in their leashes because their owners wanted to protect them and keep them safe.
It can be important to have leashes that protect us from the distracted and the destructive.
But,
Gosh,
It can also be imperative to go off leash,
To be free,
To wander,
To chase.
That draws your interest.
To go for it,
Running and tumbling and getting back up again to greet whatever is next.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Sit.
Stay.
Wag and wander.
Yeah.
Now that's the life.
Live light.
