Choices

Weeding the pineapple patch, like it or not?

When my sons were young occasionally they would get into arguing and fighting with each other. It happened mostly when they were bored. We were living in Kona at the time and had a pineapple patch on the land. I remember feeling frustrated and wanting to get them out of the house, so I told them they had to go weed the pineapple patch. They put up a big stink. So, I told them I would give them a choice about it. They looked relieved. I told them that they were going to weed the garden and the choice would be whether they liked it or not.

Doesn’t seem like much of a choice, does it? But the truth is that it is always the only choice we have, if we want to be stress free and happy. Stop and think of all of  the chores – washing clothes, scrubbing toilets, shoveling the walks, mowing the grass, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, weeding the garden, setting boundaries and disciplining our children, cooking two or three meals a day etc. etc. We spend lots of energy and time doing those things our entire lives.

Have you ever noticed what you are thinking and feeling as you are doing them or before you begin doing them? Do you have a sinking feeling or dread or anger or hatred about doing them over and over and over, knowing that you will be doing it again tomorrow?

Yesterday when I was scouring the sink I noticed how much joy I was getting at the change from dull and dirty to shiny and clean. That’s when I remembered the boys and the pineapple patch and realized that I took that advice to heart and then forgot about it. The truth is that liking it or not is always a choice. It’s much easier to like it since not liking it means that I feel unhappy and bad. They are just thoughts and these thoughts create our reality.

The end of the weeding story is that after 15 minutes I peaked out the window to see what the boys were up to. They were on their knees in the pineapple patch hurling rocks from the garden at different targets, competing and laughing and joking and being together having fun – and the rocks were disappearing so the pineapples could grow.

The thing is: since we have to and are going to do these chores anyway why not take pleasure and bring a new level of awareness and fun into the moment?

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the things you most resist and don’t want to do?
2. Would you be willing to let go of that attitude and see how you could enjoy it?
3. How would changing your attitude be beneficial or contribute to your experience?