There’s a story I’ve told before in my Soul Food columns which I’ve been writing for at least twenty years now. It goes like this:
There’s a grandfather, who owns a big farm, he has twin grandsons who come to visit in the summer, Thomas & Paul. The twin boys are age seven. One summer day, the grandpa calls the two boys outside into the barn. He says “boys, we’ve got a lot of work to do today. You see that big pile of manure over there, we’ve got to get that shoveled down by sunset.” The two boys start to shovel, Thomas is complaining the entire time, not at all into his chore of shoveling manure. Paul, on the other hand, is shoveling away, singing, whistling, and having a blast the entire time. The grandfather notices the two boys, and asks Thomas “what’s the problem?” Thomas replies, “this stuff stinks, I don’t understand why we have to do this, I quit.” Then the grandfather turns to Paul, and questions “Paul, you seem to be having the time of your life, what are you so excited about?” Paul responds, “with all this manure, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”
The same thing can be true of the Coronavirus, if we look beyond appearances, and go deeper to find the hidden pot of gold, that lies beneath the illusion of fear and scarcity, we too can find our pony. For myself, I ended up in the hospital with Pancreatitis, the third week in March, at the height of the Coronavirus. I spent eight days in the hospital, only to come home and find we’re in lockdown. I lost BOTH my part-time jobs on the same day, March 13th, and was told I’m ineligible for unemployment.
However, I still find a way to be grateful for my blessings, and have faith that the Sun will shine again, and there is a rainbow at the end of the storm. I do what I need to do to take care of matters, but don’t put my time or energy into the fear and hysteria that has swept the country. There’s only so much we can control, after that we have to let go and let God.
Here’s some of the blessings I’ve found in that pile of manure:
- I can sleep in
- I’ve created more interesting culinary delights
- I have read more books
- I’ve listened to inspirational authors, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay
- I’ve had a blast with Zooming my daughter, her girlfriend, her sister in NY, and her parents in FL
- We had fun on Easter on my front porch staying 6ft. apart & playing cornhole on the sidewalk
- It’s nice to have friends check in on me, even from California
- I can now color those mandalas I have in the Mandala Coloring Books
- My office & bathroom have never been cleaner
- I’m learning more technology, slowly but surely
- I can go fishing whenever I want (but it’s still too cold for me) but I could go if I chose
- I meditate daily, (which is key)
- My gratitude list is growing day by day
- We have more time to concentrate on the things that “really matter”
I think you get the picture, look for the Pony, you’d be surprised what you might find.
I’m doing a Zoom meeting Friday, check out the last blog for details…
If this inspires or empowers you, feel free to drop a coin in the tip jar,
Love, Blessings, & Gratitude, Eva Starr
