Choosing to dance in the rain....

In a few days, I will be a travelling dog. But before I leave, I have to get my head into that travelling space. When you travel often, you see all sorts of behaviours and people at airports.


Me .. i just chill and get into an auto pilot mode. Its one of those times where I don't push and pull against life.. I just go with the flow and let everything wash over me.

I see people getting really angry at airports and complaining about about how stupid the system is, that they cant take a bottle of water in the plane. Sometimes, I have friends who don't travel that much who complain endlessly about how they were treated at an airport. I have seen people shouting and getting really angry at airport security people saying things like" do i look like a terrorist? " " why are you being so difficult." Some airport security people deserve what they get but most are just doing their job to try and make this mode of travel safer for all of us.

Because I am in a "chill mode" I just watch everything like a drama or TV show without getting involved but sometimes I can see myself in some of those angry people. It may not happen at airports but every now and then , something may push me over and I get irritable. I don't have to jump up and down , waving my fists in the air, sometimes it just the tone or the way I snap back at someone. Yesterday, was one of those days. I wasn't sure why I was running out of patience but it felt like if everyone was out to irritate me. I remember saying to my assistant " I am a bit irritable today but I am not sure why"


She said the same thing to me a few days ago , that she felt down but didn't know why. I think of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar when I question my state/mood. In his book Guru of Joy, he says that we never ask the "why" question when we are happy.... ( have you ever asked yourself "why am I happy?" ...when you are joyful) We tend to ask "why" only when things don't go our way....why did this happen to me? That's an interesting thought.
Children start out by asking "what" questions when they first start talking ..."what this... what that?" and then slowly they learn why and then it never stops ... I remember conversations with my children that drove me nuts as we would end up going in circles with why , why and why. And I suspect, there is no end when you ask why ...you can keep going and still not find a final answer. Maybe if we spent less time on why and focused on what we need to do, it might save us alot of time , for eg. "I am upset... what do I want to do about it" It brings the conversation to a totally new direction and I think it also lifts us from getting sucked into a dark abyss.


When I gave birth to my daughter, i was told about post natal blues. I quickly said " that does not happen to me. " But it did ...just for a bit. I recognised the emotion I was feeling, and that, in itself taught me a lesson, not to be so arrogant, to think that I can control everything with my mind. I thought of other women in the world and quickly realised that there were women in some parts of the world who had to give birth in the morning and go back to work in the fields in the afternoon. My gynecologist said she gave birth in the morning and was back at work with her patients in the afternoon. I recognised that if I had no choice, I would also pick myself up and do what i need to. I thought , maybe this was a physiological thing, that I needed some nutrients. So I took some vitamin B and evening primrose and everything stopped and I felt better.
Without knowing at that point, I must have asked the "what question" "what am I going to do about this?" and the answer came to me.


Its not always that easy, the more we struggle with something, the bigger the lesson and the more elusive the answer. Or maybe its about being that " just chill person" the observer without getting drawn in emotionally that helps us find the answer. I feel that the reason we get irritable or upset is because underneath the why question sits judgement...why is this person doing this, why does he think that of me... most times we wont ever know unless we are clairvoyants, and even then it gets coloured with our own filters about what the world should be.


Life is too short for wasting on pettiness. We have so much to do and experience before we die. If it rains, instead of complaining about it...go dance in the rain and jump on puddles. Its good fun try it!