A Wink from the Sun - Being Present

It’s a grey and rainy day and I’m looking at the dashboard clock.  Traffic is heavier than usual and I’m driving in haste, replaying the busy of the day and cringing a bit as I race along.

Suddenly, I realize that the sun is setting a bit later as a shimmering strip of bright pink spills out over the dark gray cloud.  The surprising streak lights its way through a tiny corner of the sky, winking hello and intimating sunshine’s return.  I could have so easily missed that flirty, subtle slip of pink with its promise of hope, color, and warmth to come.  What if I had been focused on the cars in front of me and the gloomy pall cast over buildings for my whole drive?

It makes me wonder what else I’ve missed.  How many times have there been tiny, bright streaks of sunshine while I’m watching the road and whining about the busy?  How many beautiful but brief moments of gratitude have passed me by?

That little moment filled my heart with joyful expectation that the warming season is coming, that life and days won’t always be so gray. 

Just as we breathe through the tougher seasons of life, just as we dream of summer’s warmth on our shoulders, the sun waits.  It’s not gone.  We just can’t see its whole face yet. 

I pray for the freedom of heart to stay focused on the beauty of life, on the richness that hides quietly inside this present moment.

Happiness Machine

"Should a Happiness Machine, he wondered, be something you can carry in your pocket?

Or, he went on, should it be something that carries you in its pocket?"
                         -Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

Amid this lovely, whimsical writing, is a story where the character succeeds in making a happiness machine.  But the machine makes everyone sad because it shows pictures of places that everyone should go, things that everyone should like, expensive things like Paris and those that make you crave more things - but the characters had not actually experienced them and in learning that they wanted, they cried.

He spent so much time and energy creating this machine that he had collapsed in exhaustion when finished.  He was chagrined to realize that his invention had failed.

But when he looks inside the front window of his house, he sees his wife cooking, his children reading and playing games... looking at his family, he realizes that it's his life that is the true "Happiness Machine;" it's his beloved family.  He'd had no need to put his energy into inventing the happiness.  It was there all along.

Happiness is found in the moments of life.  It is not around the corner - once we buy this or finish that.  It is here.  It is now.

The Happiness Machine is life, carrying us in its pocket.  It is the memories and experiences we collect, the people we choose to surround ourselves with, sunshine on shoulders, a favorite song, a cup of tea or a caramel mocha, a hot shower, a walk in the park, holding a baby, catching up with a friend, receiving a hug from a child, taking a moment to relax, a roof over your head.  Sip and enjoy.

Grateful

I am grateful to be on this new path of peace and healing.

According to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, when you are on the frequency of following your true path – doing what you are meant to do - the way should be easy, effortless.  Opportunities appear that are pleasant because they are meant for you.

One opportunity that opened up is babysitting once or twice a week for a really nice family.  The three -year -old girl and six -year-old boy are bright, sweet, and adorable.  Last week, they were down for their naps and I sat on the back porch – sun on my shoulders, looking out at the lake and thinking, “This is my new job.  This is my new life.”  They pay me the same that I was making at my corporate job.  I could have been sitting in an office, forcing myself through my day.  Instead, I was playing with children and sitting in sunshine.

My largest expenditure that I felt unable to sacrifice was yoga.  Miraculously, help was needed at the studio, so I am now trading my time helping at the front desk for free yoga.  And I love working there because it’s something I believe in, a place that I truly care about and love to nurture.

Same with being at home.  As an introvert, I love the opportunity to spend the day by myself, thinking, writing, nurturing my home and my family.  I can honestly say that I’ve found so much joy in being home – in caring for my household, having time to do thoughtful things for my husband, cooking lovely, healthy meals, and helping with the family business - our rental properties.

All of these beautiful opportunities presented themselves because I was open, because I was searching for a way to truly be me.  And most importantly, because I believed that I would be guided with all of my heart.  It is the life that I visualized for many years.  And it was up to me to take the first step – all this time.