It is nearly Thanksgiving again. I have not added anything to this blog for months. And you know you know how that goes. A family member dies, a divorce happens, a job is lost, a big move happens, and the next thing you know your world is out of balance, a top wobbling. And, it is natural, natural to feel out of balance at times. Here is a partial table from Wikipedia with top ten experiences of stress statistically presented.
So, I have been affected for some time by some stressful situations. Its inevitable. And I know all experiences are an opportunity to gain wisdom, to express compassion, to be love.
Recently I read a scientific study that found that uncertainty is stressful, that it creates anxiety. They could have just asked most of us to know that is true. Given that uncertainty is prevalent in most historic times and places, it seems we have to take responsibility for our own interpretation of events. Shy of creating world peace, we don’t at present have much of a choice but to learn to respond peacefully to events we do not control.
I had lunch with a new friend. We met at a fundraiser and had the best time talking. We went to lunch last week and we both very much appreciate each other. Our overlap or common denominator is metaphysics. She gave me her October issue of Science of Mind magazine and in were these words beginning an article about Sainthood and Mother Teresa.
“Many years ago, a noted psychotherapist asked members of an audience, “If I squeeze an orange, what comes out of it?” After a few seconds someone shouted back an answer: “Orange juice!” The audience laughed. The psychotherapist smiled. “Yes,
he said. “Orange juice. Why? A few moments later another audience member answered, “Because that’s what’s inside the orange.”
“Yes,” said the psychotherapist “You don’t squeeze an orange and get apple juice. You squeeze an orange and you get orange juice because that’s what’s inside it. The juice is the orange’s essence.”
The psychotherapist then asked another question. “So what comes out of you when someone puts the squeeze on you? When someone is mean or disappoints you or slanders you? When you are in a crisis situation? When you see people suffering around you? What comes out of you.”
My new friend is ninety-six years old. She is writing a book about her life. I can’t wait to read it. She has quite a story to tell from what I have learned from her so far.