Get Out of the Way!

When we cease to stumble all over ourselves, the path we trod in life becomes far less bumpy and boulders become pebbles!

When something or someone treads on our path we stumble all over ourselves to get between them and us. Like a peacock we puff up, fan out our feathers and prance about. Armed with ammunition the old faithful master, the ego, jumps in the way. Clutching fears, desires and thoughts from the tortuous mind, it chews on self-righteous bones.

There doesn’t always need to be a perceived threat for us to get in the way. The ego loves a good tousle and isn’t very discriminating with whom or with what it engages. In the absence of a victim it’ll perch on us. It has a vivid and sometimes vicious imagination. There are times especially when we trip all over ourselves. Have you ever sat down with a pen or brush in hand and willed your creative juices to flow? Is there often a chattering creature peering over your shoulder shaking its head and poking you with a finger? What happens when you walk into a room full of beautiful, smart and rich folks you’ve not met before? Does the comparative calculator automatically switch on? Do you become the peacock or the shrinking violet? The veil that drops when we’re in the way distorts the view of things as they really are.

“No self, no problem,” a Buddhist master once replied. This elegantly sums up what can happen when we get out of the way. Next time you feel resistance to what is in front of you and the ego sense of self begins to inflate, jump out of the way! Stand back and clap your hands and celebrate the opportunity to let things unfold without a meddling ego. What a wonderful training in accepting the challenges of life.