the premise of perhaps
I had a circumstance this week that left me a little puzzled.
A couple of weeks ago I dropped a plank on my foot and was quite convinced that I might have broken one of the small bones on the top of my foot. It throbbed like there was no tomorrow. I couldn’t walk on it. All my nerve endings are screaming. I iced it, kept it raised and took pain killers for the rest of the day. I made a promise that if I couldn’t walk the next day I would go to the hospital for an x-ray.
In the morning I woke up after a long night sleep and was able to make spirals with my toes and could move my foot up and down without pain. Wow, wow wow, thank you thank you. The body’s capacity to heal is extraordinary. What I was left with was a bump, a cut, a little discomfort if I touched it and a very juicy bruise.
Now, two weeks later there is just a slight discoloration. Yesterday I got out of the shower and noticed that the mark of where the bruise was on my left foot was mirrored on my right foot. A little perplexed I wondered, was the right foot being sympathetic to the left? I know the body compensates all the time but a bruise?
I showed the mysterious twin marks to a couple of people and they had no answer. The next day while at the osteopath I showed him the marking on my feet knowing he would have be able to enlighten me on this phenomena. He scrunched his face, looked up and asked me, tan marks?
Oh my Lord, not for a second did I visit the possibility of it being a tan line and not a display of the body’s extraordinary mystery. Although a little embarrassed we had a great laugh.
What a wonderful teaching of how the mind hangs onto ideas, even prizes itself with its analysis. How often do we conjure an idea and hang onto it like a pitbull when the truth may be nowhere near our field of focus? When fear or anger get attached to our storylines they become damaging to ourselves or others, and the stories expand and the tunnels get deeper.
This little silly unfolding was for me a great reminder to let go of what I think I know and be comfortable with the premise of perhaps. Perhaps I’m right and perhaps I’m wrong. I am ok with either outcomes as they are simply an affirmation or a teaching. The exercise of liberating the outcome to unfold as it will reminds me to expand my breathing, and that’s always beneficial. Even if the outcome is hard to bear, it’s never as difficult as my imagination's capability.
I’m not sure if you remember the story of perhaps but it is a lovely read. It was one of my favourite stories that was shared in the Applied Mindfulness Meditation course I took at U of T. Later I interviewed Dr. Michele Chaban for the meditation she offered on the premise of perhaps. Here is the link to the story: https://www.mindfulnecessities.ca/collections/perhaps Here’s the link for the meditation. https://soundcloud.com/mindfulnecessities/the-story-of-perhaps/s-sxkds
Until next time, blaze on with fearless heart
Gisele
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