Seeing the Whole, the "All of It"
February 27, 2021 Seeing the whole, the “all of it”.
I began so aware and grateful. I was conscious of all the gifts the universe gave me. the most loving and caring husband in the world who is also my best friend, a condo on the beach from which I can watch the sunrise each morning, and the sun rays playing on the water the rest of the day, amazing kids I adore and grandkids each with their own talents. And the list is long… the list of what I am grateful for. And then, one day, I started having pain and in that moment of pain, the whole world was reduced to my poor pain.
It occurred to me that if I am to be cause in the matter, I have a choice at which defines my day. The narrow perspective of the pain I feel when I move, or the wide perspective of the miracles still happening around me. The big picture of the “all of it”.
When we narrow our focus, with anything, the problem seems everything. The problem can be pain, it can also be blame or any upset. When our wider view shuts down, we are up in the night annoyed by the way our lover pulls the covers or leaves the dishes in the sink without washing them.
Pain, or “misery, is a moment of suffering allowed to become everything. So, when feeling miserable we must look wider than what hurts. When feeling a splinter, we must, while trying to remove it, remember there is a body that is not splinter, and a spirit that is not splinter, and a world that is not splinter” – Mark Nepo
And so, I move through my day, keeping focus of the “all of it of life” there is space for the pain in that wider perspective, and yet, there is remembering the gifts, the miracles, the smiles, the shining ocean and the miracles of the pelicans flying north exactly the same time each year, the beauty of their flight keeping and arrow up in the sky, the chirping of the birds, the love I am surrounded by, the amazing people in my life, all the blessings life bestow on me. It feels good to remember the big picture, and the wider perspective. Life is good.