The Joy of Being Able To Do

It is a leisurely Tuesday morning and I journal this as I enjoy my home-brewed coffee, having fought off the urge to walk up to the corner for one!

I took my time this morning and almost did not do my morning exercises as I have been going through a spell of fatigue for the last couple of weeks. “I’ll skip it today” I thought, but I guess my body knows more than I do. I found myself going through the exercises anyway and focusing on not hurrying through them.

I imagined myself sick, crippled or incapacitated and not able to move my body, and so allowed myself to luxuriate in the joy of being able to do a slow, unrushed kind of movement and felt the thrill and chill as my arms, neck and shoulders were stretched by the movements.

The important thing for me in doing anything these days is not to become a robot, and trapped in the groove so that I am just going through the motions.

Also, I kept the same focus when I said my morning prayers, keeping friends and family faces and names in mind as I went through the ritual, feeling the pressure of the spirit behind the words I spoke.

I remember as a young man in California, talking to an older friend of mine who was also a musician but one with many more years experience than me. We were in his studio and talking about life, music and spirituality and I said, “Sometimes I feel so scattered and unfocused when I am doing things, but I imagine myself one day arriving at a place where my thought and my action are one.”

As I said this, I stepped forward playfully as if to demonstrate the point.

My friend who had also been a dancer years ago in New York beamed a bright smile at me and said, “That’s it! You did it! I saw you step into it for a moment…and then you stepped back out.”