Washing the Dishes to wash the dishes
I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.”
In these troubled times, many of us feel that we are being “tossed around mindlessly.” We hear daily of one dismantling of one institution after another. Resistance appears stalled more than not. In our personal lives, we become frustrated in a traffic jam, have a falling out with a dear friend, our child is expelled from school. Any one of these causes pain.
We pause and recall Hanh’s “washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes.” To be wholly mindful to what’s in front of us. We refocus, take a deep breath, and say, “Well, alas, it’s time to…” And we do it.
When things seem to be slipping out of control, we ‘go with it,’ not ‘lose it.’ Despite intrusions, recall the “wondrous reality” of our lives. In Hanh’s words, “being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and of my thoughts and actions.” We live inside ourselves, seeing life as it is.
