Friday, September 25, 2009

Drowning In Harmony

Here's a little story about a certain event in my life which I will always look back on, and never forget...

Peace is a harmonious mental state that is achieved when problems and concerns no longer exist. The sensation of complete peace leaves one feeling blissfully numb, and their eyes are much wider open to the truths of their life. During one's moment of true peace they go into a trance where pain, hurt, and sorrow, all disappear as if none of these problems had ever existed at all, and all they see in their life is the good. It causes bliss when one is really able to see life for its true value.

This kind of event occurred for me a matter of years ago while I was in a river near Phoenix, Arizona on a hike with my family from the area. During this day my poor patience led to many events. My parents, sister, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and I were all out on a scenic walk through nature as we all caught up with what was going on in each others' lives. I, being young, full of energy, and having no care for the topics of conversation going on, decided to get a bit ahead of the group and take in more of the nature at a more rapid pace. After running for awhile, I stumbled across something amazing. It looked just like a water slide in proportion, but it was made by nature from the boulders in the river, and the roaring jet of water that was propelled through the narrow passageway it created. I was compelled to go down it, but I wanted to show my family first. I realized that they were too far off for my patience. Up at the top of the boulders, I sat down in the water and was immediately thrown forward by the flow.

Little did I know that a life changing event was about to occur. As I splashed into the water at the bottom of the slide, I came back up to the surface only to realize that I could not break it. The water current was so fast that no matter how hard I kicked or how hard I pulled I couldn't even poke my head out for a brief gasp of air. After realizing that, all of my might was simply not enough to break free, I let my body relax, and I slowly drifted to the bottom. The thought that the inevitable end to my life was here did not trouble me because I understood the concept of inevitability, and did not fight with it. I was left only to think that I wanted to end my life with happy thoughts so I realized all the good that was there in my life. The love of my friends and family and the fact that I knew they loved me was the only thing that I truly thought of. With these thoughts in my head and the end approaching, I realized how I had achieved a state of peace that I have never fully experienced in my life. My eyes did not blink, and my body was as limp as could be with all muscles relaxed as I let the water control me.

Hope had not yet abandoned me completely. Just before I started to blackout I could see the faint outline of a body running towards me from the side of the river, and I realized it was my uncle. A hand reached in the water and I used up every last bit of my energy to grab a hold. My uncle pulled with all of his might as he fought with the tide. Most of my body was out of the water now but the current just gave a sudden burst of strength and pulled my left leg which was still in the water and threatening to drag me back in again, but my uncle out pulled it and we both slowly edged away from these fierce waters.

Although the life ending event was ceased, and I carried on with my life as always, these new thoughts and outlooks on life learned from this event will remain with me forever. The state of peace that I had gone through while approaching the end was oddly enough a most blissful experience that I had never, and still have yet to achieve again. It seems as if I will never 'live' to see a moment of peace like this so I better learn from what I had just gone through and make sure that when the inevitable comes that the moment of peace is far better than I could ever imagine.

1 comment:

  1. I know what you mean here dear. And of course that was a once in a lifetime experience. But isnt that what life is all about? Emulating what you want to be, doing things you will never get to do again? Fighting for peace at heart and creating the person that you want to be.

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