What’s Bugging You?
We have ants. Lot of them. They appeared as if out of nowhere overnight.
It was almost as if they had been waiting on the outskirts of our home, swarming in the first time they saw an opportunity. First it was the dog food. Now it’s the kitchen counter.
Life is like that. Things are going along well and then all of the sudden, out of nowhere, something happens that catches us off-guard, an unexpected detour, pothole or wrinkle in the fabric of life.
It might be something simple like ants. Or it might be something more difficult and all-consuming like a death in the family or one too many losses or transitions in a short period of time.
While there are no easy answers, I’m constantly amazed how feeling our emotions of annoyance, loss, disappointment, anger, upset, and even being fed up, no matter how silly these reactions may seem, shifts things.
It’s so easy to make ourselves “right” or “wrong”—to think we are “supposed to” feel a certain way. It can be interesting to notice and accept whatever is happening (even our own reactions) with curiosity and wonder.
Rather than denying that certain events are “bugging” us, we can pay attention to how cool it is that we can feel multiple things at one time, like annoyed and also loving, fed up and also hopeful.
Just when we think we can’t go on any more like “this” (whatever “this” is for each of us) something shifts ever so slightly and life changes again. The ants disappear as quickly as they came. The small stuff prepares us for the big stuff, and reminds us to be on the lookout for moments of joy, laughter, humor or everyday beauty too.
Whether we are in a state of annoyance or beauty, suffering or enjoying, learning or being grateful, no doubt each of us are, at this point in time, exactly where we most need to be (ants and all!).
