A Little Girl Without A Swimming Suit

I overheard a conversation of a family sitting next to me in a restaurant. It appeared to be an ordinary and common discussion for them.

The mother of a girl around 10 told the whole family that her daughter was so silly. The girl had thought she had put her swimming suit on underneath her school uniform for a swimming class later that day. The mother, grumbling and mad, had had to rush to bring a swimming suit to the school when the girl realised she had not worn it. The family saw it as a joke and the mother kept telling stories of more “stupid stuff” from the girl. When they got up to leave, the mother dropped her glasses on the floor and the father teasingly said the girl had inherited her mother’s DNA.

Looking at the girl, I sent my love, without any judgment, to her and to myself.

We are so used to tension and busy schedules that careless behavior or accidents have become a source for criticism or they are totally ignored as calls to be alert for problems. I sat back and thought when I had been in similar situations to the girl; forgetting something, banging my knees without noticing until I saw a tiny bruise. They were always moments when my mind was rushing, my energy was scattered, or I was annoyed by a situation. They are signs of a need for self-care and refocusing.

P. 80-81 of my book illustrate some physical exercises to increase the level of peace in your body (if you want this exercise free, please leave me your email address).

Here I will give you some extra help for the mind on top of the mental exercise on P.83-84 in Chapter 5 for accidents.

Whenever accidents or apparently careless behaviors, no matter how small, happen to me, I STOP! I breathe to slow down and scan my peace/tension level.

1. I exhale a few times to relax my whole back

2. I visualize my back leaning against a giant support (a strong wall, a pillar of warmth from the universe, or the chest of God, …)

3. I send sympathetic love to myself or to the hurt areas

4. Leaning on the support, I make myself feel safe enough to dig up what was driving me to have the mishap

5. It is usually a gradual process to find out the underlying reasons/belief behind the incident. And I come to realize more with practice what are the core beliefs that can mislead me

6. Then I can work to change them (if you want this exercise free, please leave me your email address).

It is much safer if you have notably fewer accidents. The vital part for me is that I live a life that always feels that giant support, so that I can move forward with trust, and then I become able to refocus myself in a few seconds. A sense of centering and grounding has become a routine of daily life – this is a new and brilliant experience.