Living with cats for decades you’d think complete white-flag-waving surrender would have happened a long time ago.
Alas, such is not the case.
I’ve given up on ever seeing them pick up their toys after playtime or putting their bowls in the sink after eating.
But hope remains steadfast for someday when they’ll expel hairballs on the hardwood floor instead of seeking out the few bits of carpet in the house.
The logic of a cat is not to be understood so why I continue to struggle trying remains a mystery.
Sometimes the dog-with-a-bone determination or expectation for things to be a particular way is a good thing.
Like when my dad was rerouting wires to create a stub wall at my sister’s house and had a hot wire left over.
While he was willing to let that go, I spent an afternoon tracing circuits to find out where said hot wire needed to be hooked up. (And I did.)
More often though, are times when determined-backed expectations lead to a downward spiral.
As was the case when the lawyer charged top dollar for sub-par work rife with mistakes.
The first few changes he begrudgingly corrected and further requests were met with silence.
Wound up and physically sick was all I got from looking for ways to making things right.
Damn it, he was supposed to be the professional so how could I trust him after this?
Letting go and leaving the work with inaccuracies was they only way to release the growing stress and cut the cords from this guy.
Fortunately those dog-with-a-bone moments aren’t the norm anymore.
Life is much easier to negotiate holding soft shelled expectations or none at all.
The need to let go and surrender happens far less often that way.
Being open to observing and seeing what appears lessens the struggle to keep things as they “should be”.
Surrender shifts into being a portal for change rather than a giving up of control.
The brain certainly isn’t convinced of this perspective at first.
Without a firm hand on the helm, too many unknowns appear … and then what.
Who wants to be at the mercy of what you know nothing about?
Survival and sanity are in jeopardy.
Only we’re fooling ourselves.
There is a vast ocean of what we can’t control than we can.
What we can influence is more like a pond.
And what we can control, a puddle.
Insanity and demise arises from trying to reign in the ocean and handle everything.
There comes a point where hands are thrown in the air exclaiming “enough already, I give!”
This low point of emotional and physical drain of rock bottom is a point of rejuvenation.
Without struggle or narrowed focus in the way, the new has a chance to come in.
What we couldn’t have seen before now has a chance.
Wednesdays are your personal invitation to look into the everyday, as well as the philosophical, in order to see where we’re already Living Bliss. As the Life we seek becomes part of our normal day-to-day, we can easily forget we’ve found ourselves as we work, live and play.
Blissed by cats, potatoes and clouds, Lorraine is a “curious left-brained creative big picture idea” type who never stops questioning or connecting the dots to make possibilities come true. She uses her knack for combining intuitive abilities and logic to help you hear the inner whispers “there’s something more” and re-ignite what Lights you up. Lorraine’s deepest wish is for you to be full out yourself in everything you do – a life truly lived in bliss. You can also join her weekly look into the everyday with Letters From Home.