WIGGLE ROOM

Reading from Tuesday and Wednesday, September 23-24, 2014 yoga class

From the book "Seeking Peace" by Mary Pipher

"All our lives, we must keep appointments we did not make.  None of us plan to be gay or straight, brilliant or what psychologists call "dull normal."  No one expects to be blind, crippled, obese or homeless.  No one schedules football injuries, car wrecks, hurricanes or bankruptcies.  No matter who we are and how carefully we plan, we will all experience shocks and surprises.

Yet we can influence our fates.  We may not be able to control our parents' divorce or the death of a spouse, but we can choose the way we deal with our grief.  People often think of happiness as the result of good luck, but fortunate people can be miserable, and unfortunate ones quite content.  Happiness is both a choice and a skill that we can learn, the way we learn to bake bread or play the violin.  Because of our attention and intention, it shines down on us.  Some of us possess more advantages than others, but in the end, we all create our own inner space.  With the right orientation, everything is workable. The great glory of life is in the wiggle room."