Grandpa’s Yoga Sutras
The ancient Indian sage Patanjali, in his yoga sutras, named a number of obstacles to clear perception.
One of them is illness.
How do you act when you’re feeling down?
A recent minor finger injury got me asking myself just this question.
So many things I do during the day involve my finger – washing dishes, locking a door, typing this entry on a computer keyboard…
So many times through the day to be reminded of a minor discomfort.
Which got me thinking about illness and injuries in my past. Even a relatively minor cold can affect nearly every part of the day.
It can be darn near impossible to forget you’re sick or injured.
And it can be very easy to be a bit of a pill when you aren’t feeling well.
But fortunately, we have a choice. While we may not always have control over what happens, we do have the power to choose how we react.
Sometimes it helps to look to role models. My grandpa comes to mind.
Grandpa’s birthday is coming up. He would have been in his early 80’s but died in 2001 of cancer.
While the few months leading up to his death were very distressing for me, I look back now and realize those months were also a gift.
In spite his discomfort from having lung cancer on top of arthritic pain (his wrists were “bone-on-bone” from years of carpentry), Grandpa was a pretty pleasant guy till the end.
He wasn’t without his faults, mind you, but he was fun to visit, he enjoyed life and he was interested in other people. He was interested in what others were doing and thinking, and he spent time visiting with people.
He left the house regularly until he was no longer able to. He walked daily as long as he could. He kept living.
He showed me how you can be terribly ill and still behave in a way that makes people happy to be around you.
No matter how we feel, we still have a choice as to how we behave.
Happy birthday, Gramps.
More yoga wisdom of the ages:
What do You See in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras?
Grandma’s Yoga Secrets
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