Monday, July 21, 2008

Tools Need Sharpening

Tools need to be sharp and well maintained in order to perform their best. If you are a chef, you need a sharp set of knives, if you are a surfer, a nice ding-free board, a musician, a well tuned instrument, person who wants to have successful relationships - grace.

Relationship skills may be among the most useful tools around. This past weekend, I had to work on mine.

I went to visit my boyfriend at his place which is conveniently located just a block from the beach in Santa Barbara.

I was kept awake all night by the party people across the street who finally shut their drunken selves up about 4am! Just as I relished the idea it was finally going to be time to catch a few weekend winks, I realized that the party people had been providing cover for a serious snore fest being put on by my otherwise nearly perfect mate. After double checking that I indeed had two ears full of plugs, and wrapping my pillow around my head to cover both ears, I realized I could still hear snoring loud enough to continue to prevent any chance at slumber.
In a fit, I decided I'd just get up and go run along the beach.
As I rifled through my suitcase on the workout bench perched next to the window in the upstairs bedroom, my lovely man woke to ask what was up. "I can't stand pretending to sleep any longer and I'm going running before I kill someone!" I barked. He offered to come along. He's brave. I denied his request.

I ran, I lunged, did push ups, then dips, then sprint spurts, stretched, walked it all off, stood on the wall facing east beach and breathed deeply. Calm came over me very slowly, followed by a desire for consciously developing grace. I meditated on that for about 30 minutes. I got a peaceful, easy feeling but wasn't quite there.

A cat nap on the couch upon my return had nearly restored me to sanity. When I woke I was lovingly offered a cup of coffee with a smile by the man I think I threatened to kill just a few hours before. No questions, comments, inquiries or judgements. Just grace.

And there you have it!

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