Friday, June 7, 2013

Darin's Discovery

Darin sat where he always sat and felt like he always felt and thought what he always thought.

"Another day at the bottom of the ocean," he said to no one in particular.  Then he sighed a big sigh and said, "I hate being a rock."

Of course, that was not always entirely true.  Sometimes he hated being a rock.  Sometimes it made him so angry he wanted to cry.  Other times he just accepted it.

"There is nothing I can do," he would say to himself.  "I can't swim or jump or play.  That's for the fish.  All I can do it sit here."

And so he sat.  Sometimes he looked up at the fish and watched them. On those days he would think of his mother.  She was so beautiful.  She was always dancing and sparkling in the water.  He missed her.  He missed the feeling he had when he was with her. Other days he buried his head in the sand and tried to forget that he ever had a mother or that there were fish swimming and playing around him.  On those days, it seemed easier to believe that there was nothing in the ocean besides sand and water and rocks.

"Excuse me," said a voice.

Darin was startled.  He turned to find a giant tortoise slowly swimming toward him.

Then he looked around to make sure the tortoise was really talking to him.  No one ever spoke to rocks.

"Yes, you, child."  The tortoise swam closer.

"Can you tell me how to get to Coral Ridge?"

"Um, yeah," said Darin.  The stupid tortoise just needed directions.  "You're almost there.  Do you see that big patch of coral next to the big flat rock?"

The tortoise nodded.

"Just beyond that there is a big dip in the ocean floor.  That's what they call Coral Ridge."

"Thank you," said the tortoise.  "Thank you...?"

"Darin."

"Thank you, Darin."

The tortoise started to leave, but then he stopped and looked at Darin curiously.  Peering.  As if he could see deep into Darin's soul.

Darin shuddered.  There was something uncomfortable about being looked at like this, and he wanted the tortoise to be on his way as quickly as possible.  "OK, well, good luck. Bye! Ta-ta! See ya!," he said fidgeting.  And he turned his head, hoping the tortoise would get the message.

But the tortoise didn't go.  He looked from Darin, to the coral beyond, and back to Darin again, and said, "Oh, I see.  Yes, well, that is quite a distance.  Do you mind if I rest for a moment, Darin?  You see, I am very old.  I need to gather my strength."

Quite a distance? thought Darin. The old man must be crazy!  It's just over there, for Pete's sake!  It would take no time at all to swim there. Anyone could do it.  Sheesh.

But all he said was, "Whatever."  And as he buried his head back in the sand, he added, "Don't mind me.  I'll be right here.  I never go anywhere."

"Oh really?" said the tortoise.  "Why is it that you never go anywhere?"

Darin looked at him like he was crazy.  Was this a joke or had the old tortoise lost his marbles?

"Um..."  Darin struggled with how to word this.  He didn't want to be rude, but the question was so ridiculously obvious that it was difficult to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Because I'm a rock, and rocks just lie at the bottom of the ocean."  And in his mind, he added, Duh!

"I see," said the tortoise, peering deeply at him again. "And what makes you think you are a rock?"

This time, Darin nearly lost it.  The old tortoise must have spent too much time on the surface.  Clearly, the sun had fried his brain!

With all the restraint he could muster, Darin replied, "Because I don't do anything but sink.  I can't swim like a fish.  I can't crawl like a crab.  I don't even sway like the seaweed.  All I can do is sit here. Not moving.  Not going anywhere.  Not doing anything!"

Darin was fighting back tears.  Why wouldn't the tortoise just leave him alone?  Coral Ridge is right over there.  Even he could make it there if he really wanted to, and he's a rock!  Just go away!  Go away! he thought.  But he held his tongue.

"Interesting.  I don't usually make it a habit to talk to rocks," said the old tortoise with a twinkle in his eye.  "I find they do not often answer me."

"Well, this one did," Darin said with clenched teeth, wishing desperately that he hadn't.

Many minutes passed.  Darin shut his eyes, hoping that when he opened them again, the old tortoise would be gone.  But he wasn't.

"Darin?" the tortoise said finally.

"What," said Darin, beginning to realize that the tortoise was not going to go away.

"If you are a rock and have always been lying here at the bottom of the ocean, how do you know about Coral Ridge?"

Darin started.

"What?" He tried to wrap his head around the question.  "I don't know.  I mean, um, maybe I heard someone else talking about it.  Yeah.  Now that I think about it, it must have been my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah.  My mother was a beautiful swimmer.  I'm sure she swam over there and told me about it.  That's it."

"Your mother."

"Yes, my mother.  What about it?"

Here it was again.  That stare.  What was the crazy old tortoise looking at?

"What else do you remember about your mother?"

Darin sighed.  He didn't really want to talk about it.

"I remember swimming together.  Darting in and out of the rocks.  Playing hide and seek," and added in his mind, My mom was a lot of fun.  I loved being around her.  Sometimes when Darin thought about his mother, it made him happy.  He had such good memories.  Other times, it made him sad.  He missed her so much.  Now, as he talked to the tortoise about her, he was guarded.  These memories were all he had.  He wanted to protect them from this intruder.

"You remember swimming?" said the tortoise.

"Yes," said Darin.  Now he was both guarded and annoyed.

"Swimming," said the tortoise.

"Yes!" said Darin.  He wanted to scream!  Leave me alone!  Go away!  Get out of here!  Go back where you came from or over to Coral Ridge or whatever!  Just leave me in peace!!!

The tortoise looked him in the eye.  Piercing. 

"Darin," said the tortoise.  "How does a rock swim?"

Darin stopped in his tracks.  His brain did a flip-flop.  Wait, was he...?  No.  As quickly as it opened, he shut it down. 

"Oh, yeah, no..I mean..."  He fumbled for the words.  "It must have been a dream."

Was it a dream? Now he wasn't sure.

A few more minutes passed.  It seemed like an eternity to Darin.  Then...

"Darin," said the wise old tortoise, never altering his gaze, "You know you are not a rock.  You know you're something more than that, don't you?  But you can't quite put your finger on it."

Darin hung his head and choked back a tear.  He thought about all the times he had hoped he was not a rock.  All the times he had wanted to be something else--thought maybe he was something else.  But the evidence was everywhere.  He couldn't float.  He couldn't swim.  He couldn't do anything but sink.

It did seem strange, however, that he knew about Coral Ridge.  That he had a mother.  That he remembered swimming with her.  That he could talk, even.  What rock can do that?

"Darin," said the wise tortoise, "What if...and I'd like you to think about this carefully...what if you really were a fish?  What if the only reason you can't seem to float or swim is that something is holding you down?"

Darin thought about this possibility.  Could it be true?  It was an intriguing idea, if nothing else.  He tried to squash the hopefulness he felt, then cautiously he asked, "What would be holding me down?"

The wise tortoise said, "I don't know.  When did you stop swimming?"

Darin remembered his mother dying.  She had been sick for awhile, and so for the last few days of her life they had laid low together on the ocean floor.  One day, she had arranged for a friend to bring Darin a present.  It was a beautiful brass nameplate.  An octopus had picked it up for her from the coral reef where she had grown up, and she said it would help him always remember who he was.  Now it lay half buried in the sand near where Darin spent his days and nights.  "DARIN" was all that could be seen poking up from the floor.  At least he never forgot his name...

After his mother died, Darin stayed down on the ocean floor for awhile.  Eventually, though, he swam up to join the other fish.  But he found that he didn't know how to get along with them.  It was awkward and uncomfortable, and so he sank down again.  Once, he accidentally bumped into an anemone and nearly died.  It's not safe to swim around, he thought.  It would be best if I didn't move at all. 

Almost as if the wise tortoise could read his mind, he said gently, "You see, Darin, you just forgot.  You've been lying on the ocean floor so long that you forgot who you really are.  You forgot that you were meant to be dancing and swimming and playing, and darting in and out of the rocks.  You thought you were a rock, when really, you are a beautiful fish kept on the ocean floor only by one thing--the weight of the thoughts that brought you down."

"So I need to think different thoughts--thoughts that are lighter and will carry me up to the surface?"

"No, not at all," said the wise old tortoise.  "That would just make you a rock with a life preserver.  Take off the life vest, and you would sink right back down."

"So what do I do, then?" said Darin.  "How do I stop?  How do I stop lying here?  How do I swim?"

The wise tortoise looked at him.  That piercing stare no longer seemed unsettling.  Instead, it brought a sense of deep calm.  It seemed for the first time since his mother died that someone truly cared about him.  Someone could really see him. Someone could see the Darin that he himself had forgotten was there.

"My dear," said the tortoise.  "You already have."

Darin looked around him.  He was no longer sitting on the ocean floor.  He was floating!  He was swimming!  He thought his heart was going to jump right out of his chest.

"How am I doing this?" said Darin, still amazed.

"It's who you are," said the tortoise kindly.  "All you have to do is remember.  Remember who you are.  Remember that the only thing keeping you down is your own thought, and everything else will come naturally.  Now, I really must be headed to Coral Ridge.  I am expected."

"But wait--what if I forget again?  What if I go back to thinking I'm a rock?"

"Oh, I don't think you will," said the tortoise.

"But how do you know?" said Darin.

The wise old tortoise said nothing.  But as he turned to go, his front flipper caught the edge of the brass nameplate that Darin's mother had given to him as she lay dying.  A gift "so that you will always remember who you are," she had said.

The nameplate that for years had lain half buried in the sand, had been kicked up into the water, and was now floating to a new resting place on the flat surface of the sea.  The nameplate that read:

MANDARIN
The World's Most Beautiful Fish

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Day 1 - Thursday, May 30

In our coaching call today, Damian gave me strict orders to have fun.  To stop working.  To take a holiday.

In the spring of 2010, I had a life-changing epiphany.  I went from struggling, overwhelmed, and stressed out to joyous, free, and enthusiastic practically overnight.  I was so high on life, I wanted everyone to feel what I was feeling.  It was like I was eating this really, super-delicious, yummy amazing cake, and I wanted everyone to try it.

But the minute I started trying to get other people to eat it, the minute I tried to sell my coaching services, it became a struggle--a mental challenge, a puzzle.  It seemed that no matter what I did, I could NOT get anyone interested enough to actually pay me to help them!  And it wasn't the first time this had happened.  For seven years before that I had been trying to build a business (several, actually), always jumping and putting my all into a project, only to experience failure and rejection over and over.  Now it was 10 years total.  Now I was talking to Damian.

Damian referred to my behavior as a tiger pouncing on some meat.  Project after project, idea after idea--going full bore at the expense of my home, my family, my sleep, and my sanity.  "Why do you do it?" he said.

He told me to take some time off.  Stop working. Stop thinking.  And ponder this question:  "What feeling is this tiger pouncing behavior allowing me to avoid?"

Oh, and he also asked me to keep a record of my holiday.  As if it were a real vacation.  What follows is the record of my first day (he asked me to take pictures and video, but that didn't happen--sorry), as well as my insights along the way as I pondered the question.

12:00  As soon as I got off the phone with Damian, I started paying bills and balancing my accounts.  This is something I love doing.  I learned awhile back (not long after the 2010 epiphany, actually), that money is like a pet.  It needs to be nurtured, interacted with, and paid attention to.  When you treat it well, it rewards you by growing.  When you ignore it, however, like so many people do, it shrinks and bites you when you return, almost as if it has become resentful that you were gone for so long.

12:30  Next, I went upstairs and made lunch for my son.  I cleaned up the kitchen and wiped the countertops and smiled.  For so many years, I wanted a home and a family of my own.  I think it is because I was without them so long that I appreciate them so much--so much more than if I had gotten them right away.

Thought:  Damian said that people pay attention when there is a story.  Could I write a story--real or fictional--for each of the lessons in the time management course that I am writing?  Ack!  Work!  Tiger!  It's amazing how just by being aware, the thought melts away...

Then I went upstairs.  My husband's laundry is all over the bed, so I fold it and put it away.  I am so grateful for a husband!  So many years I dreamed of him.  So long I waited for him.  And now he's here, and I get to live my dream.

Next, I made the bed.  There is something so satisfying to me about having things neat and tidy.  Always bringing more MA into the spaces of my life.

Thought:  What would happen if I stopped the tiger pouncing?  Would I feel selfish?  Like I'm not contributing to society?  Contribution has always been something important to me.  I remember when I was in college.  I was so anxious to graduate and become a contributing member of society.  As a student, I felt like I was just taking, when I wanted to be giving.

1:00  I get in the shower.  I take my time, enjoying the calm feeling.  Pensive.

Thought: I don't think I want to get rid of the tiger.  It has proved useful in my life.  Maybe just tame it?

Thought:  Fear.  That's a part of it.  I know that to attract a wild animal, like a bird, or a fox, you must be very still and let it come to you--you cannot chase after it.  I want people to come to me, but there is a part of me that is afraid that won't really happen if I am still.

Thought:  Is it just a strong desire for more than my husband can provide?  "If it's to be, it's up to me." Guilt that I just take money from him and don't contribute (in that way)?

1:30  Power nap.  Too much thinking!

Thought:  Do I feel guilty if I'm not helping others (contributing to society)?  Do I feel an obligation to help others ("to whom much is given, much is expected")?   My mind wanders back to an earlier question:  What would happen if I stopped?  How would I feel?

Yes, that's it...I would feel GUILTY!!  I start to cry when I contemplate this, and I remember Damian saying that tears show us that we are emotionally connected to what we are saying.  He had asked me, "What feeling is this tiger pouncing behavior allowing me to avoid?"  Well, if I kept to myself everything I have learned, I would be overcome with guilt.  That's what I am avoiding.  No quesion.  And the reason I keep trying--why I have kept going year after year after year, despite so much failure--is that the simple act of trying relieves me of that guilt.  I do not have to succeed.  I just have to try.

Thought:  Am I really obligated to help others?  No, they must help themselves.  I need to give them the space to make their own discoveries.

Thought:  By trying to help someone who doesn't want to or isn't ready to be helped, am I shoving it down their throats?

Thought:  I do feel an obligation to save the world--to fix everything--my mom, my kids.  Why?

2:00  I eat lunch.  Even though I am eating cooked food, I am feeling good about my choices.  I am being mindful, not frantic.

2:30  John and I go grocery shopping.  I am so grateful for plenty of money to buy whatever I need and want.  I am grateful to live in a place and time of great abundance.

Thought:  "When the student is ready, the master appears."  I have always thought about this from the point of view of the student.  Today I am prompted to think about it from the point of view of the master.  The master should only teach students who are ready.

A woman stops me in the aisle and asks me what pimentos are.  I tell her and help her locate a jar for her recipe.

Thought:  I was able to help without doing anything other than being there.  She sought me out.  Just like I requested earlier today.

4:00  I make dinner.  I love preparing beautiful, delicious, healthy food for my family!

4:45  Take John to track, drop him off, head to health food store to recycle a battery and pick up a healthy drink.  Return to the field to watch the rest of practice.

Thought:  I am plagued by this question:  IS IT TRUE?  If it IS true, what then? And if it's not true, what then?  It is undeniable that I feel an obligation to teach others and change the world.  But is that obligation real?  Or is it just another "should" in the sea of shoulds that I must reject or drown in?  3P would likely tell me no, there is no obligation.  That the feeling of obligation is only a construct of my thinking.  But I am still a religious person, and I do believe that there is order and reason in the universe and a specific purpose to our time here on earth.  I turn to the scriptures.  I read verse after verse on the topic.  It is clear that yes, I have an obligation to share what I've learned.  Absolutely.

My mind goes back to a Sunday School teacher I once had.  She had been a business woman, retired, gone back to school, and started a second career teaching History to special ed students.  She was telling us the difference between a regular teacher and a special ed teacher.  "For a regular teacher," she said, "their job is to teach.  As a special ed teacher, my job is to make sure my students learn."  Huge difference.

I contemplated that idea.  Yes, I have an obligation to teach, but do I have an obligation to make sure that my students LEARN?

No.

Absolutely not.

That was it.  THAT was what I had been doing all these years!  I had been obsessed with making sure my students LEARN!!!  Course after course I had written, always trying to get it inside their heads.  Always looking at everyone and trying to figure out how I could cram it down their throats.  I even told Damian in our very first consultation that I want to "shake people!"  I wrote a blog post recently and said how I wanted to "slap someone in the face!"  It's no wonder I wasn't very attractive--who wants to work with someone who is always so pushy??????????

The master should only be teaching students who are ready.

 After dinner and family time, I head off to bed.  Soon, Dan comes home and I tell him all about the experiences and insights of the day.  He reminds me that when I worked for SoftMed, it WAS my job to make sure my students learned.  Perhaps I just carried that idea over?

He may be right.  I went from having a "school" of a couple hundred employees to thinking of the world as my school--7 billion students.  That's a lot!  No wonder I was feeling a little pressure.

I went to bed feeling 50 pounds lighter.  So relieved.  Huge smile on my face.