Peace and Namasté, Universe.
Thank you for meeting me, here on these pages, and in my life, day after day. Maybe the biggest lesson I’ve been learning is that, no matter how far off-track I might feel, how lost I think I am; you are always right here with me – I am not lost, my path is not lost for good, and it’s closer and easier to return to than I think.
That’s really important for me to remember.
Have you ever seen a child in a store, not really paying attention, and then suddenly notice that she/he doesn’t see her/his parent? There’s panic when the child thinks she/he is alone and lost.
Even as adults, our lizard mind can trick us into panic, too. It can be more subtle and more complex; but, in essence, it’s that moment when we think we have nobody, and we aren’t where we are supposed to be.
In the physical world, I’ve experienced this in the wilderness. Just about all the hiking that I’ve done has been on blazed trails. This means there’s a pre-determined pathway to use, which has been blazed, or marked, periodically to help hikers stay on the trail. Sometimes, trails are blazed so that the next blaze can be seen from the one before it; but, not always.
I’ve been hiking where I’ll suddenly notice that I can’t see any blazes. When I was a novice hiker, that realization would be quite unsettling. My lizard brain would conjure up concerns for where I was and how would I get out and get back home.
So, what did I do?
First, I realized panicking was not going to help me stay rational and solve my problem. Second, I accepted that I was following some path, even if it was a different path from the blazed trail. So, knowing I had previously been on the blazed trail, it was sensible to backtrack on this path until I again crossed the blazed trail.
As my hiking experience has grown, I’ve developed a sort of radar about hiking the blazed trail. I don’t consciously go from blaze to blaze; instead, I trust my instincts and intuition about following the way I perceive before me. Subconsciously, I guess, my mind is noticing blazes, and it’s quick to signal me if it doesn’t pick up a next blaze.
It’s not a panic signal, though. It’s more like a hunch pulling me up to a conscious awareness of the blazes and the trail. Most times, it may be a quick, poorly marked turn, or something like a downed tree. Often, by backtracking even just a few steps, I’ll spot a blaze.
My radar and intuition seem really good, now, at following the trail and recognizing stepping off the trail. I think it’s something that has developed by putting myself there, again and again.
I mentioned “The Metaphor Game” the other day – taking two seemingly separate and different ideas and trying to divine commonalities between them; some threads of how this one is like the other; how my thinking about this thing might be applied to the other.
Now, it may not be a huge stretch for you to see a hiking trail as a metaphor for your life’s journey. When I play with that comparison, I imagine the mountains and valleys; the challenging, seemingly endless ascents, but with rewarding views at the top; or the fairly level, rolling terrain that allows me to record some big mileage, but might not be very interesting visually.
To me, the analogies can go on and on, and I frequently use them to gain some perspective and motivation to where I am, or think I am, in my life.
Focusing on this aspect of “The Way,” I can see how my mind has tried to protect me in my life – panicking that I was lost and alone, or that I might be heading that direction.
But, just like in the woods, if I don’t panic, and if I stop and assess, and maybe backtrack a bit, I can re-orient myself pretty easily.
And, I can keep going.
Too often, that electricity we feel from the panic of our lizard mind hurts us and scares us, and we stop going; stop exploring – thinking that will keep us from feeling hurt and scared.
Of course, it doesn’t quite work that way; because, what the lizard mind does is continue to shrink our world and comfort zone, triggering panic at the edges of a smaller and smaller circle.
Let’s keep blazing, Guides!
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