Waiting for Thoreau

I listened to Dr. Andrew Weil on the radio this past weekend. He said that people who keep a gratitude journal for seven straight days will reap the benefits of that positive energy for six months.

I figure it can’t hurt to try.

Today I am grateful for the fact that even though I felt too tired to go to yoga, I went anyway. Turns out, I was the only one to show, so I got a private session.

During shavasana – or corpse pose – Sarah read a story about a young boy whose job it was to tend the cows. When one cow came into the barn without a rope to tie her, the boy went to the master and asked what he should do.

“Pretend to tie the cow,” the master said.

So, the boy did.

The next day he found her still in the barn with the other cows. When he had released all the cows, the one cow refused to leave the barn. So, he went to the master and asked what he should do.

“Pretend to untie the cow,” the master said.

So, the boy did.

And the cow happily left the barn.

The moral of the story is that it sometimes takes a teacher to untie you from something that never even existed in the first place – a reminder that we often feel bound even when we are completely free.

Thank you for the reminder, Sarah.