Embracing the good things in life

CHERRIL DOTY

Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout,

I’m telling you why:

Saturday morning. A clean fresh weekend feeling washes over me as

I walk out to the Sawdust Festival grounds for a day at Winter

Fantasy. My mind is wrapped around organizational thoughts as I

stride apace. I am enjoying the fresh air and sunshine on my face as

I walk. Something catches my eye -- some movement off to my right up

ahead. Then, I notice the half dozen or so people staring up the

hill. There! There’s that movement again. A doe and a yearling are

foraging along the fence line just across from the Festival of Arts

grounds.

As I get closer I notice the child standing alone, her family

curbside attending to counting out coins for the meter. This blond

child, blue eyes wide with rapt attention, is watching the deer. As I

pass, I say to her, “Pretty neat, eh?” I am thinking only that I’ve

found a fellow nature lover here.

Turning her head only slightly, not wanting to lose sight of the

deer, she says to me with intense feeling in her words, “I’ve never

seen reindeer before.”

I am awed by this child’s remark -- its innocence and its fervid

quality. My heart swells with joy, wanting to protect and prolong the

moment.

It is moments like this that make up the joy and prosperity of my

life.

Last week Catharine wrote of the resolution she made for this year

to embrace patience and understanding. I still don’t know why she

thought at first that would be easy. Of course, my own resolve to

embrace joy and prosperity in this year seemed like I was only

setting myself up for good things. I was right. And I was wrong. Oh

the complex manifestations of living and loving life with intention!

Should joy and prosperity actually come with warning labels?

What I believe I sought -- and continue to seek -- in setting my

intention for 2003 was an acceptance of the joy and prosperity that

come to me, in whatever form they would show up. Taking that on and

embracing it ... holding it for the moment that it lasts ....What are

the implications?

Joy is a deep emotion, a high-spirited one, an over-the-top

euphoria. So what could be wrong with that? Well, there is the

principle of equal and opposite effects that comes into play.

Embracing joy is embracing life and life also comes with the equal

and opposite of joy. The warning label on joy reads: May be habit

forming. Adverse reactions might include but not be limited to

non-acceptance of its opposite.

What is the warning label on prosperity? That prosperity itself

may not be what the popular concept promotes? Prosperity may not be

about money or what most refer to as ‘wealth’? Prosperity may not be

about winning the lottery or being successful in business. It may be

more of those “complex manifestations.”

I count myself prosperous when filled with the in-the-moment joy

of connections with another human being. I am successful when filled

with the elation of discovery. I am wealthy when watching the sea in

its eternal ebb and flow. The morning air filled with birdsong leaves

me feeling affluent.

On the other hand, and again with the “may be habit forming”

thing, embracing joy and prosperity involves some challenges and

obstacles. For one thing, I don’t get to choose how it will come

packaged. It may be the delight of a child’s sighting of a “reindeer”

or monetary wealth or the joyful and prosperous feeling of

connection. It may also show up in less obvious ways. For instance,

since prosperity is vigorous and healthy growth, might the

flourishing growth be in learning to help others, perhaps even being

a part of their own prosperity, while not obviously receiving any of

one’s own? Or that a wealth of ideas that keep one awake during

sleeping hours is part of good fortune? Or that small ‘aha’ moments

might be nourishing -- a part of both joy and prosperity -- even as

they come with awareness of areas of personal development that might

need some work.

I continue to look for the “more” of the moments of elation and

the full feeling of prosperity even as I accept that in choosing

these qualities of life to embrace I have much to learn. When I wake

in the night to the soft rain falling from a sky filled with

cloud-softened moonlight, I accept what I have, too, and count myself

lucky.

* CHERRIL DOTY is a creative living coach, writer, artist, and

walker who lives and works in Laguna Beach. To schedule a coaching

session or comment, contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or

by phone at (949) 251-3993.