Last night, my water bottle slipped off my hands and fell on the table as I was trying to place it by my bedside. Lucky for me, it wasn’t made of glass. The dent on its’ metallic body was glaring! As the husband entered the room he saw me staring ruefully at it. Before I could say anything, he wisely quipped, “Don’t worry, it only means that the bottle now has a history and some story.”
I smiled. I hadn’t thought of that. In a way, it took my focus off the dent and made me think. And I was grateful for that off-the-cuff remark. We tend to forget that every little thing in our lives happens for a reason.
Interesting, how apparently insignificant things that happen to us every day often leads us on to unearth deeper layers of meanings about our lives.
The past week was a particularly distressing one for me, as I woke up to a nasty attack of migraine that left me in acute pain for two full days and totally sapped all my energy and vitality through the remainder of the week. All my plans that were perfectly laid out for each of those days had gone to waste. My tasks for the week were left incomplete. It was disappointing, to say the least. As I was struggling to regain my energy over the weekend, my mind was constantly trying to fathom what, (if there were any!) was the Universe trying to teach me through all this?
And then, this morning, during my morning meditation, I got my answer—it was right there, loud and clear as ever—it was teaching me to accept the true nature of life! Simple as it could be!!
An acceptance and an appreciation of the imperfect, the impermanent and the incomplete nature of everything. That’s the secret of wabi-sabi and it came as a timely reminder at a time when I was desperately trying to stay fixated on my goal of having a perfect week. The disruption that came in the shape of my migraine, the lack of energy that got in the way and the half-done chores that were left incomplete, not to mention the dent in the water bottle—everything was part of a plan, wasn’t it?
I now realised something that my myopic vision had not fathomed earlier. With a deep in-breath and a slow exhale, I could see the perfect moment in my perfectly imperfect world. I had to remind myself that acceptance of life is all fine when things are going right, but my challenge is to live truly in this incompleteness by experiencing the world as it is, rather than judging it from the sidelines. As spelt out in the truest spirit of wabi-sabi. I can tell you, that this is going to be the most important thing on my to-do list this week. I’m sure I’ll be learning something new by the end of the week, which I hope to share in my next #SoulfulSunday post. 🙂
Now, as the clamour of the world around me rises, I must take leave to get on with another busy Monday morning.
Here’s wishing you, dear readers, a beautiful week ahead as you begin yours.
Stay safe, stay blessed and keep going!
*******
Written as part of our #SoulfulSunday free writing exercise, along with my friends, Vinitha and Shilpa.
Life is perfectly imperfect! All the spanners, derailments, heartbreaks do teach us something, if only we stop and reflect. Beautiful writing, as always, Esha!
Thank you so much, Shinjini.
Smiling because I have a wonky water bottle too, but I had never considered it the way your husband did!
Learning to accept life with all its twists and turns is the only way, but why does it have to be such a hard lesson? 😉
I know what you mean, Corinne. Some tough lessons can also bring in calm and peace, no?
That’s what mom says to me always…accept life as it is, with all its imperfections and its impermanent nature. It gives that much of less stress and anxiety! I try to follow it, but it needs real practice, and courage, which i lack at times.
Aunty is right. I cannot agree more on what you say! The last line is apt for me too…practice, practice and more practice, that’s the idea. We’re all a work in progress, Shilpa. Being conscious of where we falter and keeping at it is what matters most, right?
Absolutely!