It was a good day yesterday. The thunderstorm and rain couldn’t wash that away.
I called to follow up on some of my more complicated patients. A puppy, born with a cleft lip & palate, was sent for referral and had a successful surgical repair. A dog that had been dribbling urine finally stopped after getting a hormone injection. An itchy terrier was scratching due to skin mites; treatment was with a simple topical medication. Very satisfying to know that these animals were improving!
Then I had the afternoon off.
Went for a facial. It didn’t matter that there was bad weather outside. I was relaxed and being pampered.
After that, I tagged along with my nephews and sister-in-law for five pin bowling. Hadn’t done this for years. Fun.
The day ended with a karma yoga class, taught by one of the teachers-in-training. The class was challenging because of the humid weather from the rain outside. But I kept observing my breath to make sure that it remained full and unstrained as I held the poses.
I was less enthusiastic about today.
Clinic schedule was steady all morning. No big surprises but I was getting tired toward the end. Had a little setback when I realized that one of the lab tests I had requested for a patient may be missing. Not an emergency but I’ll have to check on that one next week.
Went for lunch with my husband, at one of our fave local diners. The restaurant owner gave him a fig tree for our own backyard. I don’t have much patience for gardening. I like to say that I grow mould.
Used our truck and a chain to help my hubby move a huge tree trunk that fell in the yard after last week’s big storm. It was hot, humid and I was still tired. I did it because he was determined to finish the job then (and it’s not good to be alone doing that kind of work).
Tried to take a nap afterwards. A rare event for me during the day. Ended up getting a call to help someone, so the nap didn’t happen.
My evening still lies ahead…
Within 48 hours, I flipped from a “good” day to a “bad” day. Why?
There’s a yogic view that things are neutral, pleasing or not pleasing. Attaching one of these labels to emotions, things, people or events is common. It’s a tough habit for me to break since I know that have a tendency to do this. I’d like to have less of that emotional swing, from high to low, when “good” or “bad” things happen.
In reality, it just is.
It has happened. I am the one putting a label onto it. I am the one letting my perception lead my mind into believing how I should feel about whatever it is. I can’t remember where I first read about this concept. I’ve scoured my yoga library but can’t find the reference. That’s why this post didn’t go out on Friday. Didn’t want to move onto another topic just to get something onto the blog, on my self-imposed schedule. This idea needed to be explored further.
So does that mean that I shouldn’t celebrate the little or big victories in life? Does that mean that I should grit my teeth and bear those less desirable moments? I don’t think that is what I’m meant to be doing. I think that I’m supposed to observe how I label things as neutral or pleasing or not-pleasing but not get too caught up in it.
Like I said, can’t quite wrap my brain around this concept. Hope that it comes up for discussion in yoga school..
