By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The other night I ran over two chubby and good looking puppies of ours as I drove into the driveway. Their mom took them away into the darkness and I was not able to find them the next day so I could bury them properly. The mom-dog has a small tunnel she made near the house and she was there grieving the next morning so I did not disturb her. I was desperately hoping the puppies were there too and that somehow they survived the accident and were recuperating. I will check things tomorrow.
The next morning I messaged an FB friend abroad that I was not feeling good because of the running over. She said that It was an unmistakable sign that I was not centered. She hit the nail on the head but she sort of energized my being off-centered. As I was backing out the car an hour later I bumped its back side on another car parked on the yard breaking the left tail light. When you break the tail light of a vintage unit, it is big trouble.
But OK. Hands up. I am not centered. So I am taking her advice to do more meditation so I could gain back my center.
Actually I had been off-centered the past few months. I just could not get along seamlessly with the graceful rhythm of life. Everything with me seemed to be awkward. Accomplishing things took longer and often times the results were not as good as expected. I was out of sync with everything.
An astrologer might say, as if things were being done on a void moon. Supposedly, on a void moon, troubles would come from nowhere to throw a monkey wrench on anything that was afoot. For instance, a project started on a void moon would be troublesome every step of the way. A gadget bought on a void moon would turn out to be a lemon, and if it was food, it would turn sour or get spoiled in no time.
Whether or not these are true, I embarked on her advice to have more meditation.
Yoga meditation is one, if not the best way to gain one’s center. I used to meditate regularly in college and so I was relatively centered most of the time. A meditator should be able to face all sorts of trouble with equanimity. His capacity to withstand stress should be a lot better.
But you cannot just say I am going to meditate and then you could. Just to sit down in meditation on the Lord for half an hour with deep concentration requires a lot of discipline and self-control.
Thus the discipline requirements like doing yoga exercises or poses for self-control and for health. A sick person will find it so difficult if not impossible to meditate. How can you have concentration if your back and hips are painful. Or if your tummy is gurgling with pain due to ulcer or gastritis?
This is why a healthy diet is also required. Most meditators are vegetarians and they avoid all sorts of vices.
It was only after this paper was started that I started missing on my meditation schedules. Likewise, my yoga exercises became once in a blue moon. These were due to lack of time for having two full time jobs but this is not a valid excuse. For adjustments could have been made such as lessening one’s workload.
As things were, the results are my hypertension, overweight and other diseases that were temporary but could have been avoided had I maintained with strictness my old lifestyle.
Now I am determined to get it back, more so that I am not young anymore, badly in need of rejuvenating practices.
Let this article be my “fight song, get back my life song.” Well, I know, I said that before but, God willing, I will be more successful this time..
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