We decided to go to Hawaii for my birthday next February, Some friends will be staying not far from Kona for a few months so we thought we’d look nearby for a rental for a week or two so we could meet up with them for dinner or a game of golf.
We scanned VRBO and did not find any one bedroom condos for rent – minimum 2BR 2BA. One looked fantastic so we booked that one. Next the flights – there were a lot of options. We only considered direct flights, preferably from Oakland, but didn’t book one. How long did we want to stay? We could decide in a day or two as we still had the option to extend our lodging booking.
We slept on it.
The next day, today, we decided to postpone the trip indefinitely. We got to thinking about the strangers in the airports and on the planes. The strangers at the beach and the resort. Did we want to trust them? No.
If we never discussed a trip to Hawaii, this about-face wouldn’t have happened. But it did and now I’m feeling sad. In the past, I just felt sad until I didn’t feel sad. Not any more. Now I feel obligated to take action.
A few weeks ago, in my yoga class, the teacher shared a quip? an insight? as he is prone to do. He said he had been listening to a dharma talk by Jack Kornfield who said that a lesson for 5 year olds goes like this. Sometimes you feel sad. You feel sad because you didn’t get what you wanted or you got what you did not want. Instead of feeling sad, try an act of kindness for your friends, family, animals or insects. Then see how you feel. Or he said something like that. Maybe Jack told the tale in reference to one koan or another.
So my emotional state is that in the lesson for a 5 year old. I will try to come up with an act of kindness. It’s very unlikely it will relate to an insect, especially a mosquito or a knat. I am not that evolved. Maybe it will be extra kindness for Blue, our cat. Family? Maybe. A person? Maybe.
Aloha.