In The Headlights

 

"Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

A pregnant deer could tell its time was approaching and needed to find somewhere safe to lay down and give birth. It was deep in a forest, and just as the first contraction struck, it spotted a grassy clearing that was just right. As soon as it lay down, it noticed that the sky had gone gray and thunder could be heard approaching. Just then, the deer spotted a hunter to its right with an arrow aimed at her, and to her left, a lion crouching in the grass looking at her intently!

It was a ‘deer caught in the headlights’ moment for the deer – pregnant and in labor, between 2 predators. What was the deer to do?

Before I tell you what happened, let’s get back to the land of human beings.

Have you ever noticed that problems travel in large families and when they visit they seem to bring their clan with them, uninvited, unprepared for? Rarely do situations come singularly and give us ample, uninterrupted time to deal with them at leisure. It starts with something small and while you’re thinking how to get that sorted, the remaining clan checks in one by one.

Ever been in such a situation? What did you do? How did you get yourself out of it? Did it swallow you whole before rescue came? Did you cave in and give up? Confused, stressed, overwhelmed?

Back to our deer . . . In a split second, the deer decided to do what she had to do – give birth. There was nowhere to run anyway and even if she could run, both left and right were covered.

At that moment, a clap of thunder accompanied by lightning struck just as the hunter was getting his bow ready to go. The lightning blinded the hunter who shot his arrow, and the arrow swiftly flew to the lion directly opposite the hunter killing the lion instantly. As the hunter was looking to see what his arrow had struck, a bolt of lightning struck him dead, as well as lit up a dead tree trunk, and a fire sprung up and started burning the bushes around the grass clearing where the fawn was just getting pushed out of the deer. Minutes later, the new fawn was welcomed to Earth by a downpour that also put out the fire.

Coincidence? Karma? Chance? I prefer to think of it as Divine Design.

Every difficulty we encounter has an element of a test for us to take. We determine the attitude we will take the test in. Frazzled vs peaceful. If you think you’re always in control, you will think you lost control and then be frantically trying to take back control. As the problems pile up, you’ll go into denial and you may even harm yourself because the spiral may not be something you can bear.

If you believe that someone greater runs the show and cares for you and can handle anything that you encounter, you will surrender those things that are out of your control and focus on what you need to deal with in the here and now.

The deer focused on the task at hand – giving birth. That was in her power to do, and she did. The hunter, the lion, the weather elements – all came to test her ability to focus and all were well outside her sphere of influence. As she stayed on her course, she passed the focus test, and the distractions were taken care of.

May we live with peace inside so that the storms outside will not rip us apart and toss us like waves. If you stay in the here and now, you will not encounter anxiety about things that are out there and have probably not yet happened. Guard your peace by any means possible, you need not lose your cool.

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh