Sunrise Revelations

Today was day 10 of my 30 day Sunrise Challenge.  Instead of being mindful while drinking my coffee, I decided to do a 40 minute walk to the “perfect” place to catch the sunrise.

I should have known that the universe would test me the minute I walked out the door.  In the park directly across from our house, 2 rabbits sat eating the
exposed grass.  The meaning of rabbit is to watch your thoughts as whatever you are thinking multiplies.  As well, the number 2 is all about balance.

As I walked along, I loved breathing in the crisp winter air into my lungs.  I was so excited for just how perfect the pictures were going to be from this spot. In fact, I was even thinking of videotaping the sunrise and adding a sunrise meditation voice over. I was bubbling over with anticipation for how amazing it was going to be.

I went and sat and waited patiently (patience is not my strong suit) while the sky slowly lightened up.  Today was the first day that there was not even the slightest hint of pink in the sunrise.  In fact, it was very anti-climatic!

What it did make me aware of was my surroundings.  Right beside me was a most impressive exposed rock with lichen on it.  The lichen had made what looked like a map on the rock. Lichen grows very slowly. Depending on the type, it can grow as slow as 1 mm/yr to 1 cm/yr.   Lichen are actually two seperate organisms (fungus and algae) that form a symbiotic relationship and become one.  An interesting fact to note is that lichen is a great indicator of pollution.  This is due to the fact  that “lichens absorb water and minerals from rainwater and directly from the atmosphere, over their entire surface area. This makes them extremely sensitive to atmospheric pollution. As a result, there are usually very few lichens around industrial centres and towns.”  (as per http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/fungi/lichens.htm)  

As I got up, and started heading back home, I would like to say that I never looked back once, but that would be a lie.  I looked back many times thinking that maybe I had just not been patient enough and maybe the big burst of pink in the sky would occur.  But that did not happen.  I had a few huge “aha” moments happen from this experience.

The first was, it truly is all about the journey, not just the destination.

The second was, sometimes in our life, we think that we are in the right place at the right time, but there are other conditions totally out of our control that are occurring that make what we expect to find, impossible.  I thought to myself, “How many times in my life have I looked to the past and wasted time, wondering what I could have done differently, what I could have changed, when  in reality, what was done was done, and it was time to move on and live in the present.”

The third was just how important it is to be present in this moment and stop comparing it to previous ones.  If we are not present, we may just miss the beauty that is all around us.

As I started walking back, I enjoyed watching all the different colours of blue being sketched on top of the mountains.  It was captivating.  Not the sunrise picture that I had been hoping for, but definitely something of beauty to behold.

I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

Sending sunshine…and sunrises your way!

Susanne