Sensei

Sundays are really not the best day to purchase bread, or for that matter, produce. This was a saying my mother often repeated, and she was right. Nevertheless, here I was on a Sunday in the produce department standing next to a dozen shriveled up organic zucchinis. Not a pretty sight.

I’m disappointed, but quickly recover, and turn my attention in the direction of another favorite food item, the famous avocado. So perfectly ripened and waiting to be chosen by an appreciative consumer. That would be me.

As I reached for the plastic bag from the mounted dispenser, try as I might, I simply could not open the bag. After several failed attempts, my face begins to take on the appearance of a mood ring, going from a delightfully, pleasingly pink shade to an irritated, unmitigated orange hue. Code orange. Synonymous with being rather perturbed. I hide my frustration with a cordial smile as shoppers pass by.

Once again, I attempt to open the plastic bag, but it just won’t open. Certainly, not in this century. I don’t have time for this, I say to myself as my perishables stare up at me. The greater my frustration, the greater the little bag taunts me.

Time for a station break (aka life lesson). Every person, place, or object that “coincidentally” comes into our life may be presenting itself for a very specific reason. But on this day I wasn’t ready to listen to the teacher. I wanted to do it my way.

Well, I finally managed to open the bag and bring the produce home, my struggle at the store long since forgotten. While unloading the groceries, it soon became apparent that the kitchen trash was filled to the brim and in need of attention. Two boxes of kitchen trash bags were neatly stored on my pantry shelf. They were of a lesser quality, though all that was available at the time.

No sooner did I pull out a bag and try to open it when DEJA VU all over again! Only this time, bigger and even more frustrating! I could not open the bag, nor discern the top from the bottom. I know there’s a lesson here, especially when the teachings come in pairs. However, true to form, I wasn’t ready to receive it. I forced the bag open using a pair of scissors. My impatience was not bringing out the best in me—and I knew better.

I like to think that everything around us is an expression of the greater life force; from the tiniest grain of sand to the household vacuuming Roomba, rendering it capable of receiving our intentions and emotions through vibration. Both positive and negative.

The older I become, the more I realize how our emotions affect the outcome of a situation. The higher the emotion (such as happiness and joy), the greater the access to the solution. Focusing on the problem activates the same perspective as the problem itself, leading you down the same well-traveled highway. While focusing on the solution activates a higher plane of existence for assistance. It’s a personal choice, whether you wish to drive or fly.

Over the next couple of weeks, I continued to use the less-than satisfactory trash bags, each time opening them up with a pair of scissors. I had grown accustomed to this work around. Then one morning, I awakened in a particularly good mood. I was happy and singing and feeling great! I danced over to the garbage can to empty it, pulled out the factory-rolled white garbage bag from the box, and this time something different happened.

My hands were still wet from recently washing them. The moisture on the tips of my fingers caused the bag to easily open. It was a domestic miracle! More importantly, I was finally ready to receive the lesson, and my teacher, who was disguised as a trash bag, willingly obliged.