Shifting Things

Things happen. Things shift. The companion meditation to this one in my book, Opening the Heart: Mediations on How to Be (here) is "It is good to plan and prepare." But things happen. 

I thought about this, again, this morning. I have been going for a walk after lunch, but it is going to be 95 degrees here in Vermont today. Much too hot to take a walk this afternoon. So, I decided that I could do my work related things after my walk. I was able to start working not much later than I normally do. It is going to be 85 degrees tomorrow - not as hot - but I decided to go for a walk before I do the errands I usually do on Tuesday mornings. Just by shifting things around I can do what I want and need to do. 

The point of this exercise, I think, is to look at things from a new angle. Can I use this shifting of perception, this deciding I don't always have to do things at the same time and in the same order help me in other areas of my life? I certainly hope so. I took a beginner multi-media art course some years ago. I remember that, at times, we would turn our pieces and look at them upside down or sideways to see if the piece worked from that new perspective. I believe that this is similar to what I was doing this morning. 

On a bigger scale, say globally, if we start shift our attention soley away from the terrible things happening in the world and look at the good things that are happening as well, can we feel more in balance, more hopeful? I believe that it helps me. There are sources out there with this kind of news if you look for it. (The Optimist Daily, Yes! Magazine, and the like.) After all, we can keep working for the things we want if we don't despair. Despair can cause us to give up and give in.

One way I have looked at things is that you have to lance boil to clean out and heal it. Someone recently said to me that growth and change come out of chaos. So, I look for the change, the hope, the beautiful.