I operate a dog boarding
kennel. One of my daily chores involves cleaning the kennels and
filling the water bowls, using the hose that is stored on a hose
reel. The hose/reel connection leaks every time I open the water
valve, and water seeps all over the floor under the reel, often long after I
have turned the water valve off. I mop up the water and think the floor is dry, only to find a fresh puddle
a few minutes later. Every day I have to repeat the process. It is
a nuisance and also a slip and fall hazard, so I generally avoid walking
near it or put an orange cone that says "caution, wet floor"
there. I have taken it apart, replaced the washer, examined and
tried to fix the connection, but to no avail. It does the job but it
still leaks. One of these days I will find it in the budget to go
out and buy a better hose reel that will get all the water to where it needs to
go, but in the meantime I just put up with the daily annoyance and try not to
slip and fall before I clean up the mess yet again.
I look at that hose
and reel and I think of my leaky life - I am a vessel and whatever
purpose I am here for, if my power and effectiveness is weak and watery,
or diminished through poor connections, when I am lacking in
courage and strength and love, I will "leak" along my
journey. I need to connect with other vessels to enrich and fulfil
my life's purpose, but the connections are not always a good match. I try
to fix the leaks and improve the connections. Often I just avoid
connections for fear or further leaks. But sometimes I leak so badly I
seem to slow to a weak watery trickle, and accomplish being nothing more than a
slow-growing murky puddle that others avoid, step around or curse if they
ignore the caution cone and step into it.
Some people seem to
manage to get through life without many leaky moments. Some run dry very
quickly. Some are oblivious to the mess they leave. Some endure an
unimaginable number of breaches, but seem to be able to patch up their
leaks, renew their energy, and continue flowing forward.
Unlike the hose and reel,
I can't just replace my vessel with a new one. I am stuck with the
originally assigned model, knotted, patched, and looking somewhat worse
for wear as I flow through my life. What I do have is
the ability find what I need to heal my vessel, improve my connections,
and enrich my power and effectiveness so that it is thick and rich, vibrant in
hue, and resistant to leakage.
I just have to learn
where to look.
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