From the Bottom of the Bucket

Reclamation

“Each time I find myself lying flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in then race  ” – That's Life - Frank Sinatra 

First I would like to thank  many of you that shared the sense of loss over the fish incident.  It seems they were victims of a forty five degree temperature swing (63 degrees in February!) An unfortunate, but natural calamity. Those of you who have visited our home and Japanese garden, know those fish were the soul of the spirituality of what we liked to call "The Sanctuary".  They will never be replaced, but can be restored. I wanted to share some of my "framing" of this concept.

I have mentioned many times that it seems one of the secrets to fulfillment is how you react to an event, rather than experiencing the event itself.  The Human response to loss is to grieve, but that process should not be allowed to take hold.  Instead it should be replaced with a desire to recover to a commitment to revise the situation to a different level.  Nothing lives forever, perhaps the sudden departure of our finny friends was to remind us that we must reclaim the original spirit of the pond in some new form, thus reinfusing the Energy to a new level.

That's when I saw the experience in a whole different light, renewal.   By Reframing in this context, we were accepting the challenge of renovating the whole garden, paying homage to it's history, while adding some new dimensions to renew the sprit of the original concept.  In fact, the Spirit of the Garden demanded it

Is this process easy?  I can say definitively -NO.  It is much easier to feel grief and disappointment than to forge an attitude of opportunity.  BUT, it is this ability that keeps us moving forward with our lives and not accept anything as a defeat, but merely a setback on our Journey to living a meaningful life,  which, to me, is The Ultimate End Game.


Until next month, I wish you fulfillment.

Bob

 

From the Bottom of the Bucket

Living with Loss (Part  2)

“Chang is the Biological Imperative of the Universe  ” – Steven Covey

This month's post is linked to one I wrote a year ago.  The first sentence read:

“First of all, I don’t have cancer”

Well, I got that one wrong!  My battle with melanoma continues, but the signs are I am improving.  This morning I got a not to subtle reminder of how fragile Life is and why it is so important to enjoy things while you can .

I have written in this column about the Japanese garden my wife and I have built over the last twenty five years.  It is the soul of our house and has been a place of contemplation,  The central item of the garden is the koi pond, which provides a sense of living serenity.  

 

This morning, when were leaving the house for the gym, we found all the fish floating dead in the pond.  What happened?  We do not know. We only know that our spirit animals decided to leave this dimension and go to the great koi pond in the sky.   Some of the fish were over twenty years old. Some were over two feet long.  In a moment, all that life gone....we will never see the pond with such fish again.  Such a tragedy. 

 

 

 

Yet, the garden is still there, we still have our place and it is up to us to replace the lost energy.  Death is part of life and we must accept it and move on.  There is no remedy for the sense of loss, only time will tell what will replace this treasure.  I am sad for our loss, but grateful for their final gift-the reminder that all things are fragile and we should treat all our interactions with that attitude, for you never know.................  

   

Until next month, I wish you fulfillment.

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob