Wednesday, April 30, 2014

How to Save Your Soul (or at least be content sometimes)

Imagine a very large hourglass suspended on your dining room wall.
This hourglass is filled with coins. Gold coins.
It has a very simple purpose.
Every time you experience a loss, no matter how small or profound,
a coin or several, drop to the bottom chamber.

Clink. Clink, clink, clink, clink.

If the bottom chamber fills and no coins remain above, Susto, soul loss.

Imagine there is no coming back from Susto.
Once this happens, your body is not far behind.
We are but abandoned cocoons without our souls.

The hourglass has one more function.
Every joyful moment,
every act of love,
every instance of hope,
every kiss to your child's forehead,
every memory of the same,
every moment spent in your beloved's embrace,
every skip of your heartbeat,
every job well done,
every goal made,
every math problem solved,
every drop of juice from the ripest peach slipping down your chin,
every phone call to a friend,
every moment of true contact with another being,
every wag of a tail,
every song bellowed and shimmied to,
a coin lifts effortlessly back into the upper chamber.

Every laugh, giggle, sigh of relief, deep breath of gratitude, earns you a coin.
A belly laugh earns you double.

Imagine this hourglass stares you down everyday.
Every thought matters.
You have to fight the gravity of cynicism.
Find joy wherever and whenever you can.
Relish it. Savor it and be there with it.
A smile from a stranger, take it in. Let it feed you.
A waft of Jasmine, stop, and let the scent consummate you. 

No comments:

Post a Comment