I am recently back from a stay in the country with my family. A wonderful camping experience that was over all too quickly. Even with the baby, which brings it's own unique challenges, it was a restful and much appreciated vacation.
Whenever I return from such a vacation there is always an inevitable let down. While away, there was nothing I had to worry about. I was able to just enjoy the present. But all too soon the trip is over and I am thrown back into real life.
The house seems messier, the weather is worse, Miles is fussier, and the picture of the vacation we just returned from is all the more idealized. It feels like the blink of an eye, and yet, I have this memory, like a dream of being in another place where all of my worries and stresses were suspended in time and unable to break through my "vacation bubble".
The second day isn't so bad. I manage to do some laundry and clean up the house. I enjoy sleeping in my own bed. Miles takes his naps and I turn up the air conditioning.
If only there were a way to live in that vacation like state while at home. There must be some sort of Buddhist, Zen state of mind that allows you to do so. But from what I understand, it takes years of meditating and studying to get to such a place. I wonder though, even then, if it's really possible. Can anyone exist, all the time, in a completely serene state? Those types of people don't even seem human. Does the Dali Lama ever get angry? Does he sometimes wake up in the morning, hit the snooze button, and pull the pillow over his head? It seems like these ups and downs are part of what makes us human. Or perhaps we've just been doing it for so long that we THINK it is normal. Perhaps we are just at a less elevated state...
still, it would give me great comfort to know that the Dali Lama sometimes has a bad day and just wants to take a nap. and maybe Jesus' feet hurt from walking around in the desert. Maybe the Buddha's arm would itch after being bit by a mosquito.
I guess it's not really about never having worries or hardships, but just how you deal with them.
We all have little annoyances in our lives, we don't always feel like doing the things we should all of the time. These guys just don't complain about it like the rest of us.
