“I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’” – Albert Einstein
A long time ago I decided that the universe is a friendly place to me. It might be a good idea for you to have an Albert Einstein attitude as what we experience in life is usually a projection of what is going on internally.
Case in point: The last real wreck I can remember being in, I was driving down the street, minding my own business, when all of a sudden a man T-boned my car as he was coming out of a shopping center.
When we got out of our cars to survey the damage, he recognized me immediately. He was a waiter at a restaurant where I often went to lunch.
He threw his arms around me and said, “Oh Catherine, I am so sorry!”
Even a wreck ended up being a friendly experience.
Case in point from this week: Because it is finally absolutely glorious here in Atlanta, I decided Wednesday afternoon would be a great time to take my dog Belle for a walk in the beautiful weather.
Now Belle is what I refer to as a reluctant dogthlete.
I am sure we make quite a spectacle walking down the street.
I’m at the front, then there’s the leash trailing behind me and finally there comes Belle, holding up the rear.
We have had umpteen dog training sessions, so I am sure we all know better and I realize that it’s all my fault, but there we are, out of order, trailing down the street.
I usually go for a one hour walk, which she has accompanied me on countless times.
Wednesday was a little different. We got to the half way mark just fine, and shortly afterwards we stopped to chat with a couple whose house had just burned down. They were sitting in the front yard of what used to be their house, so I stopped to inquire about their tragedy. They said they had just three minutes between figuring out there was a fire and the entire place blowing up in flames, but they managed to save everybody except for one cat. Belle got to rest while hearing this story and enjoyed being petted.
Then we continued on down the street.
Belle kept stopping to rest, lying down in the grass and looking up at me.
I kept tempting her with dog cookies.
“If you take just one more step, I’ll give you a cookie,” I would say to her.
This worked for a little while but she kept stopping so much I recognized she was unusually tired. It was a much hotter day than we had experienced recently, so finally I decided the most expeditious way for us to return home was for me to carry her.
I picked her up in my arms like a baby, which appeared to suit her just fine as she had a big smile on her face. Now that’s the way to go for a walk – getting extra exercise while carrying your 20 pound dog!
I was lumbering down the street carrying my dog and the leash when all of a sudden I saw a police patrol car.
I waved to the police woman driving the car. She stopped and I asked if she wouldn’t mind driving us home as my dog had pooped out on her walk.
“No problem,” she said.
I wasn’t sure where to get in the patrol car, so she pointed to the back and opened the door to the criminal section.
I had never been in the criminal section of a patrol car, so it was quite interesting for Belle and I to hop in.
There were bars on the windows and the entire back seat was plastic, which I thought was quite practical, considering that criminals might be bloody or filthy and that way the police officers could just wipe out the back when they got to the police station.
On the way home, Officer Morgan told me that she was interested in taking up yoga and meditation to manage her stress. I asked how long she had been a police officer, and she had spent four years in New York and eight years in Georgia. She was smart enough to want to handle her stress better but was having trouble finding time to fit it all in.
When we got to my house, Officer Morgan had to come around to the side door and unlock it so that Belle and I could get out.
Because I was so thankful for Officer Morgan rescuing Belle, I taught her my eight minute breathing routine that I call “Eight Minutes To Inner Peace,” and gave her a copy of it that I had stowed away in my car. You can learn it by reading the article at this link.
I invited her to our FREE Monday night meditation group, which meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m.
So everything worked out perfectly!
Belle, the reluctant dogthlete, got to avoid her full exercise routine and Officer Morgan got to learn about stress management and breathing exercises. I got to make a new friend and avoided having to carry my 20 pound dog all the way home.
What is healing? Healing happens when we recognize that we are one with all that is and appreciate the fact that everything that happens in our life occurs for our highest good.
