Is there someone who is a priority to you?  Are you their priority as well?  I admit, I’m fairly self absorbed. If someone requires a lot of attention, I may fail to meet their expectations.  That’s cool with me.  Then there are some I want to give a lot of attention to because I see the rose within the bud, and it’s fulfilling for me to share in the unfolding.  I know how to tend that garden.  And more often than not, it’s a lesson in contrasts at the same time.  Domino is getting those lessons right now.

Domino had a neck and back injury last year from an accident he was in as he drove home from a job he’d just been laid off from, after learning the day before that his wife of 30 years and best friend had run off together.  Now, a year later, his disability pay is coming to an end and he doesn’t know what he’ll do.  He went through a fragile mental state last year, coming a little too close to the edge for all of us.  Since then we’ve been strengthening the connection, practicing staying in alignment with Source energy.  So far, so good.  Much progress.  Now comes the chance for daily practice.  Daily practice is easy when you’re in an environment that gives you the time and space for it.  We don’t all get that.

I was 20 when I learned to meditate.  Ideally, I would be left alone in the quiet for 20 minutes at a time and get it done. That seldom happened. More often than not, there would be constant noise and interruption.  At first I let myself be irritated by it.  I let it prevent me from “getting into the zone.”  While living in monastic community, I learned to take all outside sounds into my meditation and let it be absorbed.  It was my choice whether to focus on the distraction or stay focused on the goal, despite distractions.

I just had to remind myself I was in charge.  Me.  Not my mind and all the nonsense it wants to ramble on about.  Not the people around me who think only of themselves and give no thought to anyone around them.  We can’t always be around people who have our best interests in mind.  No, me, I was in charge.

That’s Domino’s challenge right now: to take in all the chaos going around him right now, take it into his meditation practice and let it be absorbed.  Remind himself he’s in charge.  It will be his choice whether to focus on the chaos or stay focused on getting his life back together, despite whatever seems to be an obstacle.

So far, so good.