Friday, January 2, 2015

Christmas gift

© 2013 Camilo Torres Gómez
One of the blessings of living in a tropical island is the warm weather we enjoy all year long. Our winter may mean a light jacket during early morning hours–in the mountains. During the rest of the time, the temperatures are moderate, pleasant. This means that we are able to spend Christmas at the beach. So we did.

The day was spectacular–the water, the sun, the pelicans. We were in awe, thankful. Well, we two adults were in awe. My son was not feeling it. We pointed out how beautiful it all is. "Well, I have a beautiful PS4 at home." I could feel his polite sullenness. He didn't want to come with us in the water so I stayed behind with him. After a few quiet moments I asked him if he wanted to meditate. "Sure."

Using terms that a 13-year-old gamer who is hooked on old episodes of Supernatural could relate to, I asked him to lay down like a corpse. I then guided him through a short breathing and visualization exercise in which a golden sphere spun on his solar plexus. This golden sphere beamed light and this light destroyed any annoyance, curse or ill-will in his midsts. This light also attracted everything that was good, fun and enjoyable. We breathed together for a while and then I left him to go in the water.

After being in the water for a while, we decided to go for a walk. My son remained camped under our beach umbrella. As we were coming back, a glowing teenager walked in our direction. He was cheerful, energetic and back to his witty and sarcastic sense of humor. He joined us for the rest of our walk, in great conversation that lasted long after we had left the beach and headed back home.

After his meditation, my son turned his focus from what he was missing to his present moment. His attitude and his mood lifted. He was happy...and then he was thrilled for we got home just in time for him to play a few rounds on his beautiful PS4.

Our shared Christmas gift was that nothing changed, but everything was different, for both of us. During our meditation we both gained a different perspective. He stopped focusing on what he was lacking and I stopped focusing on his pout. Our Christmas was one full of laughter, joy and love. Such is the power of meditation. Something so simple has the power to remove our obstacles to a good time, to enjoy our families, our loved ones, ourselves. It has the power to remove the obstacles between us and love, the fulfillment of our dreams and happiness. Such is the power, such is the gift.


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