Pot holes, or ulcers on the road of life ?
Every year around the winter season, the snow falls, ice melts, the roads expand and contract, and a pothole forms. Eroding the road leads to hazardous driving as well as the potential for tires being ripped and axles getting maligned as the car “falls” into the pot holes. It is hard to judge the depth of the potholes. Some deeper than others, in any event leading to destruction of vehicle mobility. When we go over a pot hole, there is usually the accompanied anger, frustrated expletives that are uttered with curses against the town for not fixing the roads, resulting in rash driving to avoid the pothole or at the very least, a bumpy ride. This all generates a very negative experience.
Through out our lives we encounter negative experiences, and each time this leaves a little mark in our psyche. This mark depending on the magnitude of the experience can form a scar, a tear, a hole in our minds and souls. Eventually if not corrected, or fixed will lead to a pot hole of our consciousness. How deep a pot hole depends on how much negativity we choose to allow to erode it. The deeper it gets the harder it is to repair, and soon this can fracture the road . Other drivers that come across our roads, our lives, are also affected by our personal potholes and unfortunately no pot hole encounter is a positive one. These mental and spiritual ulcers are literally manifested into our bodies in the form of disease and we continue to ignore the warning signs till it is too late to fix, and the road is destroyed. We then impolitely blame others for our follies and bad choices.
We need to create stronger surfaces on which to travel. Strengthened by resolve, determination and positivity we then solidify the surfaces of our mind, thereby not allowing pot holes to form. Some mental potholes we can patch up but if the tools and the materials used to do this exercise are not sturdy, the pot holes will re-ulcerate again. Stronger surfaces of the mind, better and smoother roads for our lives, better experiences for all drivers. Tools and materials that can be used include connecting with the universe, letting go of your ego, enabling the flow of your consciousness, listening to your soul. These ideas are manifest through healthier eating habits, more exercise, nourishing ourselves with wholesome acts of goodness.
More rest, slowing down, meditation and being in the moment keeps us from the rash driving of impulses in our daily lives. Being aware of our potential for pot holes, keeps us alert enough to avoid falling into the existing potholes. Unfortunately no one realizes how deep the pot hole is till it is right upon them. But these pot holes of the road did not spring up overnight. They like our experiential scars took time to get eroded into the ulcers. We even know that the season of potholes is coming and that better tar or concrete materials are needed to be used to fix them, but we make excuses. The concrete is too expensive or we are crunched for time as we wake up too late and so we use cheaper materials and do bad patch work that are guaranteed to fail in closing the holes, and end up with yet another negative experience.
Forewarned is foresight. If we have this understanding, we need to act now. Every moment can lead to a negative experience and a mark onto our consciousness, and the cyclic process begins. WE generate the anger, the hatred and the ill will that create these spiritual rifts and later when we look back at ourselves we can see these life-roads littered with potholes filled with negative experiences, fractured roads of bad connections, lonely roads devoid of fellow drivers.
A bleak picture, of course. A sad state of affairs, certainly. A change of season is coming. A time for patience, a time for correction, a time for understanding. Let the work crews of your soul jump out and start fixing these pot holes. Put out your construction sign ” Work in Progress” and signal others to follow suit. Give yourself a chance to drive on smoother, stronger roads and experience the wonder of seeing the beautiful world and your helpful fellow drivers. Dont forget that if you see someone stranded in their pothole, stop and give them a hand. They may end up returning the favor down your road.
Wishing you a bumpy-free ride on your road of life.
