Well, here we are in 2012!  My wish for you is peace, joy and abundance in all areas of your life.  I am delighted to be able to share my first newsletter of the year with you.  You will be reading about some amazing experiences I had during my time in India.  For those who aren’t aware, I recently returned from a two month stint in this country.

I refer to the time I spent in India as a spiritual trek.  It had been a life-long dream of mine to see the Himalayas and immerse myself in Buddhism and other spiritual pursuits.  Many experiences stand out for me and the trip was life-changing.  I hope by sharing my thoughts and stories, that you will be inspired to look at your own life in a new way.

The foothills of the Himalayas in northern India

So, what made me after so many years, finally decide to go to India for a spiritual purpose?  I was someone who was waiting for the ‘perfect’ time to go.   I came to realize that there is no such thing as the ‘perfect’ time.  I mean, what if I lose my job or become ill?  You never know what could happen tomorrow.  Life is short and you don’t want to live with regrets.  So, I set the intention of traveling to India no matter what and then I let go of the outcome.

One message I have for you is this:  don’t put off doing what matters to you. It maybe a cliche, but it is still true.  It is not how many things you do, but the quality of the experiences.  As a child, my family used to rush from place to place trying to squeeze in as much as possible during vacations.  It was so stressful!  All I could think  was, I better be in the car on time or I’ll be in trouble.  Needless to say, I never truly enjoyed these trips.

We live in a world that is obsessed with a ‘go, go, go’ mentality.  But, it does not need to be like this.  How does one stop this pattern?   One suggestion is to become consciously aware of your breath. What I had learned from my meditation practice at home and was re-affirmed in India, was that doing so helps you to slow down and enjoy life more.   Let me explain what occurs when you focus on your breathe.

a) you give yourself a focal point, thus side-stepping the countless unproductive thoughts one has at any given moment that inevitably drain you of energy  b) it enables you to connect with your body.  For example, you may become aware of your chest rising and falling, the air moving in and out of your nose and other bodily sensations  c) this, then, has a calming effect on you and enables you to slow down.  You will most likely feel yourself relax  d) it enables you to become more objective (less reactive) in your thinking and behaviors.  You will not get rid of your thoughts completely.  That is not the goal.  Rather, it’s about taking a ‘breather’ and channeling your energies in positive ways.  From this place, you can do just about anything, like make a conscious choice of how to spend your vacation and ultimately how to live your life.

This was my second trip to India, but it was a completely different experience than the first one.  During my initial trip, I had played the part of the tourist and stayed in nice hotels.  I was essentially sheltered from the harsh reality of life there.  This time I experienced the country at a much more intimate level.  I became a part of the community.  I walked the same streets every day.  I saw the same merchants everyday.  I passed the same people begging for money.  Many of these people came to recognize me as well.  I interacted with people I normally would not have had the privilege of doing so before.

For example, there was the 17 year old boy who worked daily in his make-shift souvenir stall (most of the stalls are make-shift).  He was quite the salesman - very persistent .  In the beginning, I felt sorry for him. Then, I came to realize after reading some of the the Dalai Lama’s writings, that doing so is being disrespectful to him.  This boy was not a victim.  His survival skills probably matched that of a tiger in the jungle.  He displayed so much strength - standing on his feet day in and day out with barely a break, probably earning just enough money to eek out an existence.

Then, there was the restaurant owner and her husband  who became like a second family to me;  the older woman who sat in her stall and smiled at me everyday;  the elderly lady with missing limbs and other deformities, who sat in the same spot begging for money.  We would say ‘namaste’  (a way of greeting others) often to one another;  the ayurvedic doctor (ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural healing) who worked next door to where I was living - we became good friends;  or the internet/outdoors adventure guy who asked me to watch his store while he went to the bathroom.  This is a small sample of the people who become a part of my life for a short while.

The greatest challenge I faced during my time in India, was coping with all the suffering I witnessed.  I knew it was going to be hard for me to not ‘take it all on’ and wind up feeling terrible much of the time.  This leads me to a story I feel compelled to share with all of you.  It concerns a cow (yes, you heard right!).  But, the story actually begins with a puppy.  Let me explain.  I made an American friend, a young woman, named Amanda.  Now, there are so many suffering animals in India - dogs and cows in particular.  They are left to fend for themselves.  It is truly heart-breaking.

One day Amanda came across a very sick, abandoned, female puppy.  It had a large festering hole on its back, which was full of maggots and who knows what else.  It was in dire straights.  Without hardly a thought, Amanda wrapped the dog in her beautiful shawl and carried it on foot until she found a vet.  This took several hours and much perseverance as there were few vets in the region.  (We were in the city of Rishikesh in northeastern, India)

Occasionally, a maggot would crawl onto her neck and Amanda would calmly ask her friend if he could remove it .  This continued for the entire walk.  Amanda eventually found a vet who treated the puppy and it had to have around the clock care.  Amanda and her friend snuck him into their guesthouse and took shifts attending to the pup.  This regiment went on for a few weeks.  The puppy recuperated, was reunited with its mother, and both were placed together in a good home.

What impacted me was how Amanda, without hesitation, helped the dog.  Now, I think of myself as a fairly compassionate person.  What I witnessed that day from my friend, left me humbled.  To pick up a stray, sick dog in India, where you are warned not to touch the animals, then walk for hours in the hot sun…well I knew I had witnessed a rare kind of compassion.  For me, it was an act of unconditional love.

Amanda and the puppy who she named Chai Chai

That was one of the experiences that changed me.  My friend could have ignored the puppy.  She could merely have felt sad, bad or guilty about it the situation.  But no, she took immediate and decisive action and due to that there was a happy ending to this story.   This rarely occurs in these types of situations in India.  Amanda inspired me to be more than I currently was.  She gave me a precious gift that I will be forever grateful for.

To quote Amanda “It was a very special process for me to find her all alone and be able to give up any thought or plans I may have had and just give myself to her ..to help her heal”

Now, comes the part about the cow!  This was another profound experience for me.  One evening I was walking home and happened to notice a black, injured calf.  It seemed to have no mother around and had difficulty walking.  Upon a closer look, I saw that it had a large wound on its front leg.  As it was getting dark,  I needed to get home and knew there was nothing I could do at that moment.  I told myself the calf would surely be better in the morning.

The next morning, I went to find the calf.  It was in the same spot as the day before.  In fact, it had fallen down exactly where it had stood only 12 hours earlier.  It had been unable to move at all.  When I approached it, I saw it was shaking and had sores all over its body.  It definitely was not better.

Amanda’s actions motivated me to get involved.  This is what is referred to as a ‘ ripple effect’ - meaning that I became inspired to help just as she had done earlier.  I took immediate and decisive action.  I called a woman, who as luck would have it, I had met recently.  Her name is Grace.  Grace took compassion to a whole new level.  She chose to live in India, dedicating her life to helping as many animals as possible.  This was her self-appointed, full time (and unpaid)  job.

Grace and I met and she examined the calf, which turned out to be a boy.  Grace said it was in very bad shape and probably too late to save.  Regardless, she tried numerous times to contact a vet, but had no luck.  I decided the best thing we could then do, was to ease its suffering.  We built a make-shift shelter (very make-shift) to protect the calf from the sun, gave it food and water, and took turns checking on him.  The following day, a miracle occurred.  The calf was not only alive, but appeared to be doing better!  Grace and I continued our vigil and soon even some of the neighbors began to help out!  For me, this was another miracle.  The locals are accustomed to seeing suffering animals and ignore them.  They have their own lives to worry about.  So, the ‘ripple effect’ continued and it warmed my heart, giving me a renewed faith in humanity.

Grace shared a personal story about a shop-keeper which further highlights the ‘ripple effect’.  The shop keeper said to her one day  “I wanted to tell you, I wanted to tell you, I understand now what you are doing! The man was glowing … I said OH?  Yes, everyday we have watched you for a long time, and we did not understand. I want to tell you every night now, when I close my shop, four dogs come, and I feed them! They hear me close my shop and they come running and I go next door and I buy them biscuits. I understand now, when I make them happy, I make God happy, and when God is happy, I am happy.“

The calf on the mend. I named him Mala.

The story of the calf ends like this:  The next day unbeknownst to us, a vet had somehow heard about the cow and had come to see it.  Yes, another miracle!  He administered shots and treated the leg wound.  He would of had to have done so out of his own pocket.  Each day the calf grew stronger and the number of care providers increased.  He gained many fans and became somewhat of a local celebrity.  I was recently informed by Grace that the calf is now walking and has a good home lined-up.  Another happy ending.

My hope in sharing these stories with you, stories that are personal and so dear to my heart, is that you 1) refuse to put off your dreams  2) practice becoming aware of your breathe and slowing down  3)  are inspired to take action to make the world a more loving place, no matter how insignificant the action may appear   4) understand that you have a choice of either becoming overwhelmed or jaded by the misery in our world or think ‘I can help in this way’.  You can not save the world.  But, you can help the being that crosses your path.  Do something, do anything.  Even if it doesn’t work out the way you wanted, at least you tried and that counts for something.  Remember, you never know where the ‘ripple effect’ will lead.

~~ Without that first drop of water, there could be no ocean~~

Here are some questions for you to ponder:  What part of the article had the most impact on you?  Would you describe it as positive, negative, or use another descriptor?  What would you have done in Amanda’s shoes?  If the calf had died, would this have changed your mind about getting involved in such situations in the future?  Can you see yourself dedicating your life to a cause greater than yourself as Grace had done?  Do have any personal experiences you would like to share with the readership?

In the next article, I will write about other life-changing and hopefully inspiring stories for you.  Until then take good self-care and care of each other.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 2:12 am and is filed under Life Coaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.