This week I finally went into my garden to start cleaning winter debris. It is late, and some of my lovely little early flowers were hidden in the leaves, but what was most important to do was to trim out the rose bushes. I have some very vigorous rose bushes and they get out of control. I’m sure I should have cut the canes back in the fall, but I never follow directions, so I began to work. I started with no gloves, and was getting very upset, why oh why were my roses hurting me? I love my roses. As I was picking a smallish thorn out of my arm, I noticed a very large thorn stuck in my barn boots! Wow, these roses are not fooling around, so I got out the gloves, but, still in short sleeves, the branches wound around me like those thorn bushes in Sleeping Beauty. No matter how much I tried to reason with the roses they kept hurting me. The job is mostly done now, but not without shedding some blood, sweat and tears. Here is what I learned:
1. Be prepared. Now, when you work with roses you should be prepared - like wearing gloves and long sleeves, preferably a denim coat and pants, or leather or in some cases it seems that you need metal clothing. It is more difficult to be prepared for the thorns that life throws at us every day. Especially when we listen to the news and hear of another shooting, or one of our dear friends is diagnosed with cancer, or when we don’t have enough money for something special or to even to pay the bills. The list can go on and on. The question is how do we prepare for life? You may have your own answers. Last week we shared a few. Here are a couple more things to do: Get some good rest. When I’m tired I do or say things that I am not proud of. Get the right amount of exercise. Taking a Yoga or Qi Gong class can be so nourishing. (And this is just for me - Stop eating so much candy!!) Being prepared is also about studying people and writings that are filled with wisdom to live life well. Like Thich Nhat Hahn who said,
“Waking up this morning I smile,
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion.”
What helps you be prepared to walk out the front door in the morning?
2. Don’t take anything personally. Roses are beautiful, but roses are roses. Why do I expect a rose to treat me differently then it treats any other thing that would harm its branches. Don Miguel Ruiz says in The Four Agreements, “Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their own mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in. When we take something personally, we make the assumption that they know what is in our world, and we try to impose our world on their world.” This Toltec wisdom is of course not talking about roses. Trying to impose another person’s views on ourselves, or our views on another person is never life giving. I believe there are plenty of references about not judging, that includes judging ourselves. Easier said than done, right? But maybe if we keep reminding ourselves, at some point our awareness of what we’re doing will lead to us change our behavior. That’s the hope.
Be Aware
To the nature deep within you
Aware of it’s beauty and it’s shadow
Aware of it’s sorrow and pain
Remain faithful in its blooming and in its dying
Be Aware
Enjoy the coming of the spring and all the opportunities for awareness opening around us.