Three minutes of Zen

Once upon a time, there lived a family of foxes that lived in the woods. As the sun set one day, the father fox readied to go to work. (Foxes are mostly nocturnal) Kissing his wife and kids ‘good bye’ he set out to fetch the families ‘bread and butter,’ (a figure of speech) and off to work he goes.

Not far from his home, down the big thicket highway (a trail in the woods) the fox run into a traffic jam. A large group of porcupines were moving slowly down the trail. The fox tried to make his way around this congested trail but he kept bumping into the porcupines and every time this happened he would get a porcupine’s quill stuck into him. Finally, the fox had enough and decided to find a short cut and he got off the main highway.

The fox was making good time, running through the back road brush when he ran smack-dab into Mrs. Skunk who sprayed him with a mountain load of verbal bashings, “Watch where your going, are you stupid or something. You could have hurt me and that mister that would be a major mistake.” Mrs. Skunk stated.

“Yes, ma’am, I apologize,” the fox bowed out gracefully and left smelling like a perfume factory, only not so sweet. The fox came upon the farmers field and the fox began to run across the field when he realized the cows had just went by this way and he was constantly stepping in cow patties. So the fox decided to go along the edge of the field to avoid the cow patties only now he was stepping through patches of sticker-burs.

The fox finally reached the farm and did the best he could to reach the hen house un-noticed, smelling like cow patties, skunk and pelted with porcupine quills and sticker-burs. The chickens clucked loudly and began running around like crazy. The fox ran into the chicken coop and chased the hens around until he heard the slamming of the door and the farmer injecting a shell into his shotgun. “BOOM!” The farmer let off a round which was enough to tell the fox that the work bell had rang and it was time to go home.

The fox made his way back to his home where his wife and kids anxiously awaited their fathers return. The father fox walked up and immediately the family knew they weren’t having chicken for dinner. The father fox could see the disappointment in their faces and he felt even worse. Mother fox however made it clear she had plenty in the cupboard to make a meal and sent the father fox to the creek where he could bathe and wash away his day. Not wanting to rub up against his wife and children and have a porcupine quill stick them or a sticker bur rub off or even the smell linger around them the fox went directly to the creek.

Pulling sticker burs from his fur as well as porcupine quills. Lathering up to rid the smell of cow patties and skunk from his coat. Shaking feathers from his head and lips the father fox sank into the creek and soaked up the refreshing spring water.

Feeling a tad-bit better after his bath, the father fox joined his family at the dinner table and they laughed the rest of their day away until they all fell asleep, happily.

(Moral: no matter what we encounter during the day we should do the best we can to not bring our bad day home with us)

Three minutes of zen

Baths/showers are a great way to ‘wash away the day.’ I call mine, THREE MINUTES OF ZEN. I use this time to meditate. A time set aside in my fast paced life to meditate on my mental well being,

the first minute

I close my eyes in the shower and allow the day to play through my mind one last time. Highlighting the most memorable moments. (the first minute or so)

the second minute 

Then I try and clear my mind of all thoughts, except feeling the water pelt my skin in the shower, here and now (the drop-lets dripping from my body carry away the bad and new drops splash me with goodness, refreshing h2o) this is the second minute or so.

the third minute

I plan my future, how I will be mentally, at peace with ‘what is.’ (reflecting on the saying, accepting the things I can not change and changing the things that I can) What is the most important task that I need to tackle to make mine and my families life better. I re-energize my zen and sometimes even create an idea for a zen story or poem to learn from my experiences of the latter part of my day to make my future better. Creating a way to learn from my past. (and yes, most of the time it is longer than three minutes but I call it, three minutes of zen)

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have a zen filled day