Waiting for the Messenger

“Every burden is a blessing” ~ Walt Kelly


Last Friday, my day started on the wrong foot. Besides being late leaving the house and having to go back twice to retrieve items I had forgotten, I realized that my car was making a strange sound while on the way to take my daughter to school; despite the fact that I had a lot of errands to run and not enough time to get everything accomplished before having to go back to pick my daughter up, I decided to go by my husband’s station to get the car checked out.

After the car was fixed – and I was already running an hour behind schedule – my husband asked me to stay until he worked out details of a transaction he was having trouble with from the day before; once that was taken care of, my phone rang and I ended up being delayed for another fifteen minutes.

I finally walked outside, ready to get in my car, when I passed by my husband talking to a customer. He introduced me to the lady and I realized then that we had briefly met before, so I stayed and talked to her for a minute.

It was quite amazing how many things we had in common, but what made that encounter so particularly precious was the fact that during the conversation I indirectly got the answer to a problem that had weighed on my mind for a couple of days. It was almost as if Universe had coaxed my off-schedule visit to the station and my delayed departure, just to make me run into this lady.

By the time I left, I only had little over an hour to run all my errands, but everything worked so smoothly that I got everything accomplished - and even had fifteen minutes left to grab some lunch - before picking my daughter up.

Very often, when things happen, it’s easy to get frustrated because we can’t see the full picture. We see the obstacles, and remember the struggles, but rarely do we stop and think about the blessings we might have missed if those blocks weren’t there to slow us down.

A day which appeared to be cumbersome and non-productive in the beginning, turned out to be a very positive one, and allowed me to see that sometimes obstacles must be embraced, for they might be markers leading us where we must go.

I put a question out to the Universe and expected an answer. I was obliged, but not before learning a lesson or two.

The water Around the Rocks

“Be the water, not the rock. Water has the flexibility to change direction; a rock stays in one place and gets worn out.” - Japanese saying


The home I am currently living in has a small creek running at the edge of my yard – after a good rain or at night, when diurnal sounds begin to wane, I can open my windows and feel as if I am living near a water fall.

Aside from the delightful, relaxing sound and the explosion of life water always seems to have near, the stream has provided the opportunity for me to sit and observe; to watch and learn; to understand how nature correlates to daily life.

Yesterday afternoon I went out back to pick a few tomatoes for dinner, and since it was still quite early I went to sit on the bench by the water. Because it hasn’t rained much the past couple of days, the flow wasn’t impressive but it was nevertheless constant. None of the rocks resting at the bottom had been disturbed by the gentle trickle and remained still at the bottom of the bed. The water continued to move around them, never considering their presence an obstacle on the path.

We might feel we have more control if we rigidly stick to our guns and don’t accept change, but true strength walks hand in hand with flexibility.

We are taught since early age that stability is the key to living a life of purpose, but it can often become synonymous of stagnation. Being flexible, and working our way gently around obstacles, allows us to go further and achieve success using the least amount of effort.

Only a powerful flow during a storm would be strong enough to move the rocks out of the way, but fluidity and gentleness allow even the weakest trickle to move along without having to fight its way through.

Solidity and rigidity are not always the answers to the problem, but are often the path to resisting a solution.

Letting go of preconceived ideas gives us the opportunity to tackle a challenge with a fluid mind, and be able to shapeshift in any possible form which will make our passage a smooth and successful one. As Einstein once said, “Nothing will happen, until something moves.”