I was walking on the path through the woods near our home the other day. I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, so I was grateful for the abundant harvest of thimbleberries and huckleberries that nature was providing me. I was thoroughly enjoying the beautiful morning, and all of my attention was on spotting the red jewels hiding in the green leaves.
As I reached out to grab one particularly enticing berry, my foot slipped off the tree root I was using to get myself closer to the prize. I looked down, and realized the reason my foot had slipped was because I had stepped on a slug.
Now, many of you might say, “Ewww! Gross!” when stepping on a slug. And had I been barefooted, I certainly would have. But, I was wearing shoes, and so I felt bad that I had injured the poor creature. It was even one of the native banana slugs, and not one of the imported black European slugs. Why should I feel sorry for a slimy slug? Well, here I was, an outsider coming into its home, and not giving any attention to where I was placing my giant feet. I was focused only on getting what I wanted, and not aware of how my desire was affecting others around me.
I think (I hope) the slug was all right. It was a fairly large slug, and I only stepped on the end of its tail and rolled it off the tree root. It was starting to move away as I sent it some Reiki and apologized profusely for stepping on it.
I started to think about how my actions toward achieving my goals and dreams were affecting others around me, especially my family. I work to provide for them, and I do other work to fill my spirit. And sometimes all of that means I don’t get to spend as much time with them as we all would like. So I made sure after my walk was over to spend some time focused just on my children. It was a little challenging since they really enjoy their computer time. 🙂 But we went and played in the river, and I’ve been ensuring that I give them my full attention when they are speaking to me.
Stepping on that slug really made me more aware of where I was giving my attention. I like to think I am giving more of it to the things that are worthwhile. I can still get what I want (like the berry I picked after I stepped on the slug), without bringing more pain to others around me.
Where are you giving your attention? And how is going for what you want affecting others around you?
Blessings,
Mary