Friday, November 4, 2011

This too shall pass.

Moving to an entirely different part of the country has it's challenges, least of which I thought would involve allergies.  New England is damp, very, very damp.  Add the cool weather of autumn and mold spores abound.  Where I resided for the past 20 years, when it got cool, it also became dry.  I'm all for new experiences, but when I was plagued with constant runny nose, incessant sneezing, eyes forever itching and burning, I was challenged to find peace amidst the discomfort.  Four weeks later I came down with a fall cold.  Prior to that cold fully moving on, ANOTHER virus struck... Another f'ing cold?  (All this was exasperated by two different trips taken on planes, teaching weekend workshops and weekly classes.  I'm not complaining, this is just what happened.) 

This morning, six weeks into nose-blowing hell, I was starting to feel a little down.  I was in the kitchen not outwardly expressing feeling sorry for myself when one of my housemates entered.  Two years ago she was diagnosed with MS.  In a moment of clarity I realized my cold is a drop in the moment-of-temporality-bucket.  I asked myself if indeed this, in all actuality, relatively mild discomfort never passed... Could I deal?  Of course I could.  Perspective is worth a 1,008 years of inconvenience. 

Just this week a yoga teacher said to me (well, the whole class really, but it felt like she was talking to me!), "Acceptance leads to liberation."

Om on.