LightBears

YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS YET, BUT lT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICE.

Sometimes Life gives us the unexpected: perhaps a package lands on our doorstep. We weren’t expecting it. But somehow it has our name on it. Nothing else! no sender, no address, no brand name, nothing to identify it but our name.

So, what to do?

First question: when I look at this unexpected package, what feeling comes up first for me? Hope? Curiosity? Fear? something else?

Let’s start by considering that whatever feeling arises is dictated in part by:

(a) how we were initially taught to see the world (is it safe? unsafe?);

(b) our life experiences as we have grown (kindness? mean spiritedness?);

(c) what we read in the papers/see on the news/hear from neighbors, family or friends (others are inclined toward giving? others just want to take?);

(d) where we live — city? rural? peaceful environment? battle zone? etc.

Let’s go on and ask: Are feelings to be temporary experiences? permanent reality? subject to change? etc.

Moving on, do we accept that our feelings are valid? Do we talk ourselves out of what we are feeling, dismiss the feeling, argue with our perceptions/reactions?

The underlying question is: How much validity do I give myself? Was I taught early on that I was “silly”, “stupid,” “imagining things”? Was I taught that it’s okay to be who I am, to feel the way I feel?

Do I trust my instincts? Do I believe in myself?

OK. Let’s assume just for discussion’s sake that my first feeling is fear.

Ask: Why is this my first response to this package? What is my fear?

Is the fear that it contains a bomb? (a natural thought if you live in a war zone, or a city, and have read about/heard about scary things happening). Is the fear that there’s a spider under the package? Is the fear that someone is waiting to photograph my taking it?

Regardless of what the fear is, are you aware that fear is a drain on your personal power, that fear inhibits possible positive realities, that fear blocks out the potential for joy to enter your life?

Let’s ask: Is there a real need, in this present moment, for me to accept this feeling of fear as a potential reality?

And the most basic, essential question of all the questions above is: Regardless of any of my experiences so far, or what I have been taught, or what I have heard,

WHAT AM I CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSING RIGHT NOW ABOUT HOW I WANT TO LEAD MY LIFE???

Am I open to joy? Do I believe there is hope for positive change? Do I want to live in a spirit of POSSIBILITIES, MAGIC, and LOVE???

For today, December 26, 2022, I AM CHOOSING TO BELIEVE THE FUTURE HOLDS LIMITLESS BEAUTY AND MAGIC!!! It is just waiting around the corner.

SO: I am picking up the package. After all, it has my name on it!

WHAT IS INSIDE?????

I go ahead and open it. And oh my. IT IS MAGIC!!!! Inside the box is a slightly damp bed of sphagnum moss, and resting on the moss is a twig with a couple of leaves on it. And on that twig is PROMISE!!!! It is a caterpillar in its snug little cocoon, safely wrapped like a tiny egg protected from any harm.

MY BOX IS FILLED WITH HOPE FOR THE FUTURE!!! Who knows what amazing butterfly will hatch from that little cocoon?

MY NEW YEAR’S GIFT IS:

PATIENCE

Let time, light, life unfold.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE!!!

And I can tell you right now, tis is so far, far better than that bike or pony I wanted as a little kid. Because Mother Nature is filled with joyful surprises.

THANK YOU MOTHER EARTH!!!

Life is short and filled with surprises. May your surprises be ones of joy.