Cloud Watching

My attempts at meditation have been, for the most part, unsuccessful. Admittedly, part of the problem is my lack of sticktoitiveness. I much prefer immediate results in everything I do. Which is why I don't do anything. Ha!

However, I have decided to continue down the mediation path and, in that effort, I have been following a (sort of) daily meditation guide. The book simply gives me something on which to reflect or a simple exercise to clear my mind...that kind of thing.

I react to some of the suggestions/reflections with a WTH is she talking about. Other times, I'm intrigued. Always, I try it out. Sometimes, it ends up being quite worth my time. Like the day she reflected on her childhood lying on her back watching the clouds pass by and, yes, that Joni Mitchell song popped into my head...though that's the one song of hers I never liked.) She asked: What can the clouds teach us?

So, I headed outside to search the clouds for an answer. Amazing. Here's what I discovered (after a couple of hours because I really got caught up in watching the darn things. I hadn't done it YEARS and it was fantastic! I saw a surfer surfing a huge wave; a Saint Bernard grow from puppy to adulthood; my dog; lots of faces- people and animals; a man's face change from a man to a mountain lion to a tiger; myself...)

What can clouds teach us?

• Not everything is as it seems so, try not to make assumptions.
• Take life slow and easy and reflect on the positives. We miss too much speeding through each day.
• Be gentle with others.
• Recognize approaching storms. Take shelter but appreciate what they have to offer.
• Be aware of, and willing to, change.
• Move forward softly, slowly and in awareness.
• Change is not to be feared.
• Change can be fun, funny, interesting, adventurous, scary, creative, motivational, thought provoking, encouraging, calming, comforting, freeing...
• Change is something we can do.
• Stalling is ok, as long as we move with the next breeze.
• It's ok to change directions when we don't like the path we're on.

Do you meditate? When was the last time you took time to watch the clouds?