TALES FROM THE BOBBI LAMA

I make the effort to swim everyday, or almost everyday when the weather allows. Yesterday, I noticed a little lizard on top of my small statue of Buddha about a yard from the edge of the pool. As I swam towards it, it faced me and didn’t scurry away. It gave me a giggle at the sight of it, and I continued swimming back and forth while it watched me and I watched it. I wondered what it thought I was since it wasn’t running away. He could only see the upper part of my head, but not my body which was under water. At one point, as I scooped up a tiny bug on the surface of the water, I slowly placed it onto the cement between us like an offering and swam away from the edge to see if the little lizard had any interest . The lizard jumped off the Buddha head, ran over to the edge, ate the bug, and ran back to hop up onto its Buddha perch. We did this little exchange a few more times and I found myself joyfully absorbed and thoroughly amused by the interaction we were having. It was fun to simply abandon all the mental planning and list-making that had consumed me earlier in my mind, and just be in the moment.

Again this morning, I was drawn to another moment that made me smile. I was sitting at a traffic light and saw a beautiful dragonfly flitter to a landing on my windshield directly in front of my face. It sat there, inches away, also staring at me which is what got my attention. It was so beautiful with the sun reflecting its irridescent colors and gave me a whole new appreciation for the dragonfly. It sat there the whole time I waited at that light. When it finally lifted up to fly away, the traffic light turned green, and our little visit was over. Once again, such little joys can be anywhere. The challenge for me is to pay attention for when these little thought interrrupters arrive and be willing to relax into the present moment of each one with appreciation.