As I came into the house after a frustrating day, I found a fly persistently trying to get out through a fixed window in our dining room. As usual (that is to say, as I have seen many a fly do), he was repeatedly bumping in to the glass, emitting a litany of frustrated curses each time: Buzz!... Buzzzz!… Buzzzzzz!
He was growing more and more agitated at each attempt.
I tried to help. There was an open window just inches away from where he was and I tried to guide him that way; waving my hand, then fluttering the curtain at him to shoo him in the right direction. This only succeeded in irritating him further. BUZZZZZZZZ! as he hit the glass again.
“I’m just trying to help you!” I said. “Why are you being so stubborn?! Can’t you see it’s wide open right next to you, you silly fly!”
“I’m just trying to help you!” I said. “Why are you being so stubborn?! Can’t you see it’s wide open right next to you, you silly fly!”
That’s when I laughed. I suddenly got it. The entire way home I had been asking the Universe why something wasn’t turning out the way I had planned. Something I had worked at and had been pushing so hard to make happen, wasn’t working out.
Thanks to my stubborn little friend, I was suddenly aware that I had been banging my head against the proverbial wall. And like my single-minded friend, I too hadn’t thought to look at other options.
It was so easy to see, really. I just needed to shift my perspective ever so slightly and there it was, clear as day; a much better path to where I ultimately wanted to go. Why had I been so closed-minded? Why had I so doggedly pursued the one option when I knew it wasn’t working?
Here’s my reminder to myself and my advice to you, dear reader: When something isn’t going your way, take a moment to sit in meditation: Be still. Be open. Allow creativity to flow through you. What’s best for you might not look exactly like you expected it to, so be open to another way. Limitless resources exist, so quiet the chattering mind with all of its “do’s” and “don’ts” and its “can’ts,” “shouldn’ts” and “won’ts."
Thanks to my stubborn little friend, I was suddenly aware that I had been banging my head against the proverbial wall. And like my single-minded friend, I too hadn’t thought to look at other options.
It was so easy to see, really. I just needed to shift my perspective ever so slightly and there it was, clear as day; a much better path to where I ultimately wanted to go. Why had I been so closed-minded? Why had I so doggedly pursued the one option when I knew it wasn’t working?
Here’s my reminder to myself and my advice to you, dear reader: When something isn’t going your way, take a moment to sit in meditation: Be still. Be open. Allow creativity to flow through you. What’s best for you might not look exactly like you expected it to, so be open to another way. Limitless resources exist, so quiet the chattering mind with all of its “do’s” and “don’ts” and its “can’ts,” “shouldn’ts” and “won’ts."
Believe if you knock that it will indeed be opened unto you. —Just don’t get lost rapping on doors and miss the windows that have been open to you all along.
All my best,
photograph by LeAnn, Italy 2007
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