If the Buddha Got Stuck_ A Handbook for Change on a Spiritual Path - Charlotte Sophia Kasl [22]
Messages come from surprising places—in the form of the person sitting next to you on a bus, from a dance lesson, going to a movie, or wandering through a bookstore—you never know when it will come. The guidance, inspiration, and connecting links we need can be found all around you if you only stop to tune in.
If you’ve ever watched toddlers at play, you’ll notice they move around touching, tasting, feeling, and bringing fascination to whatever is around—from scraps of paper, to pillows, to measuring cups, to the cat. They pick up a block, look at it, lick it, put it in a pile with other blocks, then move on to something else. They aren’t saying, “Now I’ll pick up a block, now I’ll set it down”; they are pulled by all their senses to explore smells, sights, textures, tastes, and tones. They are led by fascination and curiosity. That is the essence of deciding where you want to show up. You are guided by a deep sense of resonance with yourself. What calls you, stirs you to excitement, and touches on your life’s desires? This doesn’t mean anything goes. From a Buddhist perspective, we always consider what we do in the context of integrity and a commitment to kindness, honesty, and doing no harm to ourselves and others.
To show up is to put yourself into a web of connections that can broaden your perspective, give you fresh ideas, and open possibilities you never even dreamed of. Consider the story of Elaine, who took her first flying lesson at the age of forty, after leaving a seasonal job in Antarctica. Usually quiet and withdrawn, Elaine felt a sense of elation from soaring high in the sky, learning about the weather patterns, and mastering something that had always intrigued her. She had tiny glimpses of what it might be like to become a pilot, but because she didn’t believe it was possible, lacked money, and was afraid she wouldn’t get hired anywhere, she dropped the idea. She subsequently became depressed trying to figure out what to do.
Then, several months later, Elaine was at a workshop on healing with her friend, Sophia. Sophia struck up a lunchtime conversation with a man named Mike, who happened to be a pilot. “What’s the situation like for women now?” Sophia asked, smiling back at Elaine.
“It’s great,” he said. “The airlines are really wanting to hire more women pilots.”
“What does it cost? Is it really expensive?”
“Yes,” he replied, “but there are all kinds of scholarships and loans you can take out.”
“Do you think it’s too late at forty to get started?”
“Not at all!”
Elaine’s ears had perked up by then. The next day Mike casually dropped a flying magazine on Elaine’s lunch table. It included ads and descriptions of the various flying schools in the country.
Elaine is now a pilot. Although the job climate changed dramatically after 9/11, just when she had been offered a contract with a commercial airline, Elaine found a niche in teaching. But if she hadn’t been with Sophia or shown up at the healing conference, she wouldn’t have gotten started. Mike and Sophia were the links to her new career, but it was Elaine who picked up the catalogue and took it from there.
Showing up might be as simple as pulling yourself out of bed and taking a little walk when you feel sad or depressed. Here is the raspberry story: Jeanette was feeling achy, exhausted, and depressed several days after major surgery. She couldn’t seem to pull herself out of bed or make an effort to do anything. After several days, with her husband’s encouragement, and struggling against a desire to roll over and go back to sleep, she dragged herself out of bed and wandered into the backyard. “It was rather bleak and colorless,” she told me. “All the flowers were faded, the leaves had fallen, and the sky was was gray. I walked around looking at the silhouettes of the bushes, feeling the leaves crunch under my feet,