Go Away January!!!!! Surviving January With a Little Help from Pema Chodron

My Thoughtful Little Buddha

Except for the birthdays of the people I love this month, I have decided to declare January --- OVER.

Go Away, January.

The little Buddha who sits on my kitchen table next to our pepper grinder and Kleenex box might think me rash.

Be in January.

It just is January.

There is no January.

But I wish, no longer, to have January in my life.

This thought is irrational and, clearly, unstable. As if getting rid of Januarys would rid my life of uncomfortable things like the flu or the stomach bug or deaths or too many diagnoses of cancer of loved ones.

And then, I find this quote from the wise and fuzzy-headed Pema Chodron:

"To stay with that shakiness—to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge—that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path."

And I think, revenge on January? Is that what I’m doing?

Deep, dark January. I guess you can stay. As the discomfort you cause, I suppose, is in no way your fault and brings us all to another level of growth.

But be gentle next time. Walk gently onto my path. Because I am merely human and the awakening is coming, but still oceans away.

Namaste – OM