Breaking Free

Merlin on a tether.

Breaking Free

I was making some fifteen-bean soup a cold winter morning.  When I woke up and looked out the window I saw frost; that’s why I had the idea.  As I was working away in my kitchen I looked out through the window again and saw Merlin, my daughter’s dog, out sniffing around.

He ran this way and that.  Looking.  Sniffing. Tangling!

Rather than run out to get him free of his predicament I waited, just so I could see what he did. 

At first he simply sat and barked for a little help to come his way.  Then when the help didn’t come, he turned on his little haunches and went to where his tether was loose.  When he felt a strong pull on his harness he stopped and when the other way.  But, he was never able to follow his tether around the tree that shortened his leash and inhibited his ability to run forward freely.  He couldn’t see the connection.

I could see the connection because of my vantage point.  I also knew how to deal with the entanglement because of my years of experience.  He’s still a young puppy, a Welsh Corgi isn’t too high off the ground, and lacks experience.  He couldn’t see the reason for his inability to run and do the things he loves!  I decided to help.

I walked out and guided him around the tree that held him bound.  Showed him he was free of it and then walked back with him into the house where he would feel comfort and safety.

Don’t you and I want to feel the same kind of comfort and safety in our lives?  Don’t we want to overcome our challenges successfully and then return home in personal triumph?  I’ve never met anyone without this need and desire.  Yet, we’ve all faced the dilemma of little Merlin in same way.

When in our home, I rubbed his little ears and thought to myself, “I’m just like you!  I seem to get stuck over and over again and then I react in the same way over and over again.  I whine a little, bark a little and hope that someone will come to my rescue.”

So, here I go, I’m making another commitment to you my friend.  Next time I’m out in the big world doing what I do, sniffing around a little, there will come a time when I hit the end of my self-created tether.  I’ll wonder why I can’t move forward.  That’s when and where I’ll stop.  But this time I’ll choose not to sit, bark and whine.

Merlin has shown me that if I’ll simply follow my tether back to the beginning, carefully, I’ll be able to identify the tree that is deeply rooted and holding me back.  I’ll recognize it for what it is, a simple barrier that needs to be challenged by moving around it in a way I’ve never tried before.

Doing what I’ve never tried before is a scary task.  It looms in front of me as an unconquerable giant.  But, I can conquer myself! I’ll realize I created the first trail and follow it back to a release point.  Then I’ll break a new trail, past my barrier, toward success.

I’ve seen successful, little, Merlin often.  He runs free, like the wind!  His triangular ears are pinned back in aerodynamic form!  He has a smile and an amazing look of joy as he relishes running free.  I don’t have an aerodynamic ear formation and don’t run very fast, but I look forward to the joy I’ll feel as I break my self-created tethers one at a time!

Free Wheeling

“The Exercise Wheel.”

Free Wheeling

A few years ago I was going through some difficult emotional trauma.  In short, I discovered that people around me were not conforming to my belief of how they should act.  My response was to completely disassociate myself from them.  As it turned out, doing this caused people close to me to go through unnecessary pain due to my unilateral decisions.  I completely disrupted the lives of my loved ones. 

It was four years before I was willing to admit my mistake and begin to repair the damage I had caused.  I thought that reflecting and repairing had allowed me to grow a great deal on a personal basis.

However, over the past three or four months I’ve been faced with a very similar situation.  I’ve been thrashed around emotionally and on Wednesday last, everything came to a crescendo.  My emotions were running at full steam ahead.  I was starting to relive my mistake of the past.

By Friday I had a thought that pierced through my turmoil.  “I’ve been here before.”  I said to myself.  “Am I going to be a slave to my poor behavior or have I truly learned my lesson?”

To be honest, I’m still struggling with this lesson.  I’d love to say that I’ve learned my lesson and have moved forward, but that isn’t exactly correct.  My insides are still roiling around as I work to come to terms with myself.  At least I’ve recognized that I am on an exercise wheel!  That’s some progress.  But, my task is to break free of this particular wheel so I’ll never have to be on it again.

I know now that there are other wheels I’m unconsciously living on as well.  So, I’m actively looking around for the other wheels I’m driving.  I’m sure they’re obvious to the people I live with, but they aren’t so recognizable to me.  Now that I’m looking for them they’ll begin to appear one by one in a never-ending succession!  I am excited to begin to move forward toward new breakthroughs.

The thing is, you and I can never have true breakthroughs if we’re stuck on our same old exercise wheels! Knowing that you’re trapped in a cage is the first step toward freedom.  Knowing that you have the ability to break free is the second critical step toward true enlightenment.  I’m just discovering this path toward freedom.

True freedom isn’t something inherited.  It’s something to be discovered and earned on an individual basis.  One enlightened, free, person can change the world in remarkable ways.  A group of enlightened people can completely remake our world.  Let’s start by moving past our own exercise wheels.  Let’s go free wheeling!

Dangerously Good

“I always thought it strange that the people who were there to protect us killed and wounded us for doing the right thing!” –Isam

Dangerously Good

“You’re not going to smoke, are you?” I asked, with a little snicker.

“Why did you ask me that?” The driver replied, in an Eastern European accent I couldn’t quite place.

“Because of the sign on your dash board.” I Retorted.

“Oh!” He said with a sparkle in his eye.  “No.  I won’t smoke. Smoking isn’t good for you.  Neither is marijuana.” He continued.

I listened quietly at his change in our conversation, sensing the light tone was about to shift.

“Before I came to this country I was a policeman in Bosnia.  We found a three-hundred-acre marijuana field and burned it.  It made the international peace keeping force so mad they began to shell us!”

The shelling killed two of his fellow police officers.  He was wounded an still has at least three pieces of shrapnel in right leg and at least one in his back.

“I always thought it strange that the people who were there to protect us killed and wounded us for doing the right thing!  I guess they just couldn’t live without their drugs.”  He said.

When we arrived at the hotel, I watched as Isam got out and walked around to the side of the long white van and slid my door open.  I watched the way he moved because of his revelation.  But, I also marveled at the man himself.

As he slid the door to his left, he said, “I love it here!  I’ve been in this country since two thousand.  I was lucky to be able to come to this beautiful city.  Most people here seem to try to do the right thing.  But, when I see laws changing in some places to let bad things become legal I worry.  I don’t want this place to become like my old country.  I am thankful to be here.”

I got out of the van and thanked him for his service.  He smiled as he limped away.

“Have a happy Thanksgiving!”  He called after me.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” I replied back, realizing that I too have a lot to be thankful for.  After all, I’ve never had people shooting missiles at me as I was doing the right thing.

Still, I’ve sometimes found it hard to do the right thing on occasion.  But, Isam’s life story reminded me that doing the right thing is important even when it’s dangerous and puts lives in seemingly in peril.  Living a life based on principle has never been more important.

Leave Your Corral

Tepid steps toward a greener pasture.

Leave Your Corral

First there was the stretching of the neck.  Then, I could hear a little snorting.  One front hoof took a small, timid step forward.  I knew he wanted to change his circumstance.  It was obvious the green grass, just through the open gate, was tempting him.  At the same time, I could see the gears turning in his head.

“If I stay here I know I’m going to be fed on a regular basis!”

“What if I can’t get back here, where I know I’ll be fed?”

“Is the grass over there as good as it looks?”

Do these questions seem familiar to you?  They are familiar to the steers I raise and they’re intriguing to me because I’ve spent a lifetime battling these same questions.  Right now, in the fall season, I’m reminded of this internal battle because it is a time for preparation.

As the temperatures plummet, the grass in my pasture goes dormant.  That means I need to shift my steers from the pasture to the corral where I can feed them hay.  It’s a place where they can stand around to eat and not destroy the pasture that will sustain them through the spring, summer and early fall.  It doesn’t take them long to understand that if they just hang around in this location, lots of food will automatically be delivered to them twice each day.  Still, I leave the gate open so they have room to roam and graze on the vestiges of the summer’s bounty.

But, roaming and grazing almost immediately lose their appeal when ease, comfort and a full stomach are the rewards of stasis.  Immobility comes with a cost though.  While they get seemingly everything they need by just showing up, I’ve noticed that their hearts become greedy and the joy they feel by romping and chomping in the field disappears and turns cold with the season.

Being out in the broader world does indeed have its dangers.  The unknown scares both cows and humans.  But, it shouldn’t stop you and me from stretching our necks a little.  It shouldn’t stop us from sniffing and snorting to see if the air in a little different circumstance is better than where we are today.  Taking short steps toward a happier and more joyous life is the mark of a leader.

One steer stretches his neck through the open gate.  He sniffs and snorts.  Then, one hoof takes a tentative step into the broader, greener pasture.  He walks through!  The others are soon to follow.  They begin to roam.  They begin to romp.  They begin to chomp.  Joy pulses through their whole being!

You and I were created to live a life of joy.  Being a leader means that you open the gate and blaze a trail toward joy for others who will follow you.

Shared Emotion

-->

“It was one thing to be kept safe from the harm of violence during the war, but everyone was hungry.  There was little to no food!”- Rachel Burk at Maggie’s Veteran’s Solute Concert

Shared Emotion

The lights went low and Maggie Burke’s young orchestra began to play on stage in soft, beguiling tones.  For the first time in my life I was completely mesmerized by music!  The enchanting tune seemed some how familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it.

Then, after about one minute, its familiarity began to tug ever so gently in my heart and mind.  As it turns out I knew this tune well and have know it my whole life.  This arrangement was different and pleasing.  I have never experienced anything like it before.  Gratitude filled my heart for the performers playing and for my friends Rachel and Tony Burke for inviting my daughter Annie and me.  It was the beginning of an experience I can only describe as shared emotion.

The author of this shared emotion took actual newsreels and letters from World War II and combined them in a multimedia combined live performance to allow the audience to understand that the war was not just a story.  It was the life experience of real people.  But its effect went well beyond performance to me.

During the intermission I talked with Tony and Rachel and made the comment that I was struck with how thin everyone was in the newsreels.  Rachel said, “It was one thing to be kept safe from the harm of violence during the war, but everyone was hungry.  There was little to no food!”  She then explained that her family had been hidden away in the Vatican for their personal safety.  “At the ending of the war they were some of the lucky ones who received an invitation to enter the United States.”

They traveled to the USA on a military vessel and received their first real food in over four years.  It wasn’t really a lot, but it was overwhelming to them as they ate and then lost it all since their bodies were no longer able to tolerate a regular meal!

“They had to eat sparingly the entire voyage to America!”  Rachel explained.

Rachel’s shared story intensified the collective emotion after the intermission.  The audience was still.  The presentation was punctuated with sniffles and applause from the audience. And, at its end, everyone in the auditorium rose as one body in a standing recognition of what was accomplished by those who triumphed in war, spirit and presentation.

“I’m glad it ended!”  Annie said.  “I don’t think I could have endured the intense emotions one more moment!”

It wasn’t that she didn’t love the performance.  She did!  It was just that we had shared the emotion with more than the sublime orchestra.  We had shared the deepest kind of emotion possible, a linking of generations.  We saw much of what they saw.  We felt much of what they felt.  We were overcome by their triumph and our inability to repay the good we have received from their hands.