Poop Shute

My mother was right

In a comment a month or more ago she said "This is a test. This is only a test."

I'd like to think that I am passing. I have said before that I have learned a great deal about myself these past months. The learning continues. Not that it ever could or even should stop, but some periods of learning are more obvious than others. Sometimes you can skate through learning and growing and changing a great deal without ever really conciously knowing that it has taken place.

This is not one of those times.

It is time for my next tat, I think. I had found the Tibetan symbol for growth and change back in April or May, and planned on getting it. Meg had decided on the symbol for "om" for her own, until she saw my idea and liked it better. We were going to both get it, but for some reason I decided against it last minute. Don't know why. I guess it just wasn't time yet. Maybe because it wouldn't have been honest yet for me. I think I wasn't ready for change and growth yet.

In the months that have followed that has changed. I have rediscovered my love for Buddhism, and a new love for Taoism as well. I have been meditating when I can. I have been trying my best to do yoga. Through these tools I have been going through a lot of self-examination. I find myself calmer and a much better listener. I am more observant and attentive to those around me. I have also found myself a great deal happier in general, and way less prone to complaint and I find that generally it seems more difficult to make me angry. In traffic yesterday a woman flew past me honking her horn and flipping me off. I laughed out loud and just gave her a friendly wave. Immediately after she was gone, I was taken aback by my response. The old me would have been very upset by that lady and given her entirely too much headspace for probably the rest of the day. Instead, she probably made my day that much brighter with her absurd behavior. With that realization I laughed again. It was one of the purest laughs of my life.

As any Taoist will tell you; if you just relax, life is fun.