I hurt my feet (and then they were hurting me for several years)…
I had to change my pace and walk slower, mind more closely where I am going and avoid surfaces that might hit the specific sore spots on my feet. When it became frustrating to be so cautious I decided to turn it into a game: let’s see how many ways there are to make a step… Toes-heel, heel-toes and tons more… And when I’d hit the painful spot anyway and my leg would fall out of control I’d make it as if I was dancing… with reckless abandon…
I decided (yes, again, it’s always about the decision what meaning we give to specific situations) this painful situation with my feet was a metaphor for my “business steps” and where and how I “walked in life” in general, so I was teaching myself the new ways of doing my job(s), studying more as well as learning to be more relaxed, more at ease with the unexpected, handling the surprises, more flexible and just letting go of the old and allowing the new insights. Of course I went beyond metaphors, too and learned more about muscles and bones, about various therapeutic techniques… Exploring the situation from all angles and still pondering endlessly on what I did wrong and how to avoid it “next time” and then…
All that might have been valuable analysing yet then a reminder of Thich Nhat Hanh’s thoughts arrived: “ Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet…” , and a smile spread all over my face…
For a moment I dropped all the analysing and just enjoyed the loving, gentle lightness invoked by those words…
Sometimes one gets overwhelmed by engaging in all the mind work, the paradox of working hard to learn how to relax.
O, yes, I could have analysed those Hanh’s words as well and could have found at least ten more messages in it, saving some in the files with various labels where I keep updates on numerous techniques and methods for improving the quality of life yet I decided not to and instead just allowed the feelings of lightness and love to spread all over me, for no logical reason at all…
And it felt so good…
Just like a very deep state of bliss, a meditation, breathing technique, a graceful prayer of gratitude, all in one.
Whatever way I do it, it is always beneficial to occasionally let go of all the research, all the open and hidden messages, meanings and lessons or just remind myself: “Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet”…
And I do. And every time it’s a different and a wonder-full experience.
Even if it’s just for a moment or two, I feel so good and afterwards I’m ready to go back to whatever I was doing, refreshed on so many levels to keep on walking…
I hurt my feet and then they were teaching me all sorts of lessons for several years yet the most valuable one was to find that lightness in-between the “courses”, that feeling of loving gentleness, that serenity… like when walking as if kissing the earth with my feet.
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