Is there anyone out there that does not have something chaotic happening right now? It sure seems like this pandemic has put us all in touch with some heightened emotions and behaviors that have been dormant for quite a while. Within my own family and close circle of friends, I see people who are having an increase in health issues, life-altering relationship issues, threat of job loss and intense anxiety and depression behaviors, that seemingly were nonexistent 5 months ago. Which begs the question, were some of these things already there, ready to sprout from just beneath the surface, and this pandemic and isolation made way for them to show themselves? It seems I just get done meditating on how to deal with one concern, when another makes an appearance. If I let it, I can actually see a roller coaster going up and down and all around inside my mind.
Shift! I am a believer of the yin and yang of life: if all of these disturbing issues are surfacing around me at the same time, there must be a greater good that is awaiting discovery. There has to be a balance somewhere. The very nature of my current discomfort is forcing me to find my peace within. I am reminded that if all of the aforementioned “negative” things have always been just below the surface, then all of the “positive” things have also always been there, just within reach. I do not have to make this so complicated. I cannot control the chaos of the external, but I am the only one who can control the peace of the internal. I am appreciating Kitty’s teachings around Lao Tzu’s quote: “Muddy Water, Let Stand, Becomes Clear.” I admit I am still in the Muddy Water part of some of these things, but I am practicing at the Let Stand part, over and over again. And I recognize that if I make friends with my discomfort, and choose not to get on that roller coaster, all things will eventually Become Clear.
