Waking Up in a Busy World: Meet them at the Door Laughing

Monday, October 1, 2018

Meet them at the Door Laughing

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
From Rumi's, The Guest House

How many of us, I wonder, can meet these things at the door laughing? Most of us do whatever we can to pretend we are not home when these types of visitors knock on our 'Guest House' doors, don't we?

"Sh@#!!!" we might say, as we, with the reflexes of a NHL goalie, duck below the window frame and turn the light switch off with whatever object we are holding in our hands. Crawling on hands and knees we are going to try to get as far away from the undesirable, unexpected ( and sometimes expected) company, are we not?

Many of us do not see our human lives as"Guest" houses, anyway. We hide, instead, in private houses with "Beware of Dog!" and "Keep off the Grass!" signs where 'Welcome' and 'Come in! We are Open' signs should be. We have bolts and locks and double alarms for protection. And many of us do not open our homes to the friendly visitors, let alone malicious ones.

Dark thoughts, shame and malice are among the many life events we do not want in our private mental spaces. So we shut them out with repression and suppression; we turn our backs on them with denial. We pretend we are not home by numbing out on senseless activity or substances.

And if after all this... these 'guests' continue to push their way in we, with tongue protruding, push with all our might against the opening door. We resist! We do not care how many toes we break in the process or how much peace and effort we must expend. The message is "Keep Out of my house!"

At what cost? Does this bring us the protection we long for?  Does it keep our mind's safe and calm? Our lives peaceful and serene? No!

There is no running or hiding away from life's contrast.  These visitors were sent to us for a reason. They are on a mission and they will get in, one way or another. If we fail to accept them, they can become intruders pretty fast.

When you are sleeping at night, exhausted from the battle of defending and resisting...they will break in and out of vengeance wreck your home. They will hide in closets and dark corners and attack you when you are not looking. They will pop out when you least expect it!

Resisting them only makes them more persistent. Resistance makes them enemies and violent intruders when all they really want to be are guests!

It is not they that destroys your peace, wrecks your home and leaves your life in a mess. It is your resistance to them, that does that. They have to come in one way or the other and they will. It is up to you to choose whether they will be guests or intruders in your mind.

The next time they come to your door/your Life...try not to resist. See them as the guests they are...welcome them in with a laughing attitude.  Know that as long as they are guests they can not harm you. They will come in, stay a bit, do whatever they do but like all 'guests' they will eventually leave. See no harm in them and they will bring no harm.

Learn to laugh at their arrival and their silly antics knowing that there is no reason to fear. You are after all a 'guest house' meant to be welcome and open to all kinds of experiences. Enjoy all guests without resistance and just see how much easier Life will seem!