Searching For the Waters of Antiquity

Like a snake in the Garden of Eden, terrorism is slithering down the path once more. Many dates live on in our memories, and the last is looming on the horizon as the anniversary approaches, a date that we as Americans will always remember. Another date that I remember is April 19, 1995, marking the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing. I remember it because I was there on my way to work at a nearby hospital health clinic.

Many of us in the profession volunteered at the large church, a make shift holding area, giving comfort to family members for hope against hope that a loved one would be found.

We live in a world where terrorism intimidates and threatens to strike at the heart of our communities once again. Where world peace eludes us, and keeping up with our stressful daily lives, we find ourselves conditioned to live on the edge of stress and anxiety. Fear is all around us, be it international terrorism, corporate or environmental disaster, or personal tragedy. A day after British ID suspects in terror plot we see more evidence that we lack control, and that even frightens us more.

We juggle between our need to know what is going on, and the constant assaults from the media that create its own havoc with our lives. Where is the peace and joy in living, how do we get control back over our lives?

In our house, we rarely take any interest in TV news as it is so sensational and negative, opting to read what we need to know on internet newscasts. However, yesterday we were forced to actually watch the news since we had to take a house guest to the airport. So between the newscast, and getting to the airport 3 hours early as suggested, we had full view of the events as they played out. We saw people who varied between angry sarcasm (a cover for fear) and those that wer frightened, anxious and stressed out.

During times like this, we need to time ourselves out and try to get a grip on where we are going, otherwise we get lost in a funnel of fear, spiraling downward into chaos. When you feel out of control and eaten up by stress, take a minute for yourself. Relieving stress and anxiety is truly as simple and easy as pealing an orange. Mindfully pealing an orange (or connecting with any activity) allows us to value the object or activity and with practice, finf the value in other parts of our life. This is somewhat like living in continual thanksgiving.

The path to peace is between the ears, no matter what is going on around you. Making a practice of mindfulness, giving your full attention to your daily life is a simple solution to complex issues. From problem solving to living peacefully, no matter what is going on, mindfulness offers the distance to observe without judgment. When you are centered mindfully, truly focusing on an activity, you just know what to do and when to do it and this is a prescription for right action and peaceful, healthy living. If we all could truly IMAGINEPEACE the world would be a happier place to live.

By the way, I can help you down this path with meaning…I can help you get to where you want to go, just contact me for more information.

Posted on Friday, August 11th, 2006 at 5:16 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.