Nailed, or Eating my own Medicine

NAILED
One of the great things about the Byron Katie work is that you don't have to fish around in your "shadow," or delve through your past "troubles." If something isn't finished in me, life will always give me an opportunity to deal with it. If I'm not yet clear on my patience, I can catch myself via the Byron Katie work having thoughts on how so and so should slow down and be more patient.

After asking the four questions, (see, as usual, her website, thework.com, if you've forgotten them), I get to do the turn around and check out the turn around truth. Is it true that the so and so named Chris Elms should be more patient?

Well, yes, it is. It always is. (Often in a somewhat hilarious way, where I'm impatient with so and so to be more patient. Or I'm angry at so and so for being angry. Or I'm grumpy at so and so for being grumpy. And so on, the delight of life when we start to look inward for truth.)


And yesterday, I got nailed, having gotten in the car mode for the fourth straight day to attend an advanced training with Anat Baniel. ( A fantastic training by the way, on working with children with cerebral palsy and other hugely demanding challenges that Feldenkrais, especially in Anat's refinement, is by far the best system in the world for helping. See anatbanielmethod.com, if you'd like to learn more.)

I was in a rush to get to the last day's session, which started in San Rafael at 9 AM, on a weekday, a Tuesday. The day before, Monday, we started at 9:30 and all the 9 traffic was gone and it was a breeze. Yesterday, stuck in all this traffic I was going to be "late."

Ohmygod, what a tragedy, eh?


Well, I got sucked into thinking that way, thinking that this was a tragedy, since that day before by arriving a little early, I got to do some very valuable practice work.

So I was in a rush and the traffic was SLOW, and I resorted to the get off the freeway and then come back on from that same exit thing. Except in one off lane, it looked like too many cars were trying the same trick, and so I cut back in, having passed a mess of cars, and done just what I and you and everyone hated people when they do it.

Luckily for my reality check, a CHP car came right up behind, pulled me over and out came a friendly Highway Patrol man, who gave me a nice little talk and then gave me a ticket, my first since I was sixteen.

This was reality saying: okay, Chris. If you are going to preach slowing down, the time for you to slow down, is exactly when you don't want to.

I didn't slow down.

I got nailed.

Thanks Universe.