Chanukah 2014

There is something magical about a roller coaster ride.  It is an opportunity to feel the perfect blend of fear and exuberance.  That first endless ascent, punctuated by a slow and determined rhythm:  click... click...click...  The knowing that there is no going back, no control, no individual will.  Just surrender.  Whether or not we realize it, the distraction of  life's worries disappears in this place.  All the regrets, the to-do lists, the achievements, the possessions, all of the boundaries we create between one another,  it all becomes irrelevant.   In an instant,  we find ourselves letting go into the sensation of weightlessness and falling, as we are being both hurled toward demise, yet utterly safe.   Our travel is so swift there is no time to think or respond.  We are forced to just experience.  And from our soul the ultimate oxymoron erupts- the scream of delight. 

Could  this be the ultimate in 'being present'?   Do we return again and again to the amusement park because somehow there is a lesson to be learned about the ride that is our life?

Just across the sand we can watch the surfers flow with the ocean, imagining ourselves being so adept at letting go into the dance of each wave.  It is said that the foundation of the entire surfing experience is the ability to operate in the present.   How can we catch ourselves when we fall into the habit of considering  what was, or what's next and in so doing miss out on what's now?  Where can we practice being present? 

Maybe it would be useful to consider what situations perpetually entangle us in an unnecessary web of feelings or analysis and what might inspire us to step away from that pattern.  Where do you find your scream of delight? Perhaps it's time for another trip to the amusement park or to the water's edge. 

As you move through this time of lights and gifts, of ups and downs, of relationship and love, may your heart be softened and may you be ever-awakened to abundance of blessings offered by this and every moment.