When I left off with the last post about the four hedges of England, I was off to
Glastonbury.
I waited my entire life to see this amazing place and I took off in my rented Audi for the 22-mile journey. I was relaxed, ecstatic and expectant to see the amazing things in Glastonbury. I was driving on very narrow roads, listening to the radio, getting ready to watch the sunset, planning my hike up to the Tor when around the corner came a very large truck. It ran me off the road and my car slammed into the low wall that was on the side of the road. The car wouldn't move. I had not only blown the tire but bent the rim.
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| Bed and Breakfast in Glastonbury |
I had a moment of freaking out and I was pissed. "How could this happen to me? I'm on vacation, this is my dream. This is so unfair!!!!" Luckily I was smart enough to get a global cell phone and called England's version of AAA. They said it could be up to 40 minutes. Again I had a meltdown."I can't believe this is happening to me! Life sucks, this is the worst thing ever!" I had been instructed to tell the woman at the bed-and-breakfast my exact arrival time so she could be ready for me. I hunted down her phone number in my stack of things and called to let her know I would be late. But what I actually wanted to do was complain. This is so unfair! I called her and told her I had been run off the road and I had a flat tire. She asked if I was safe? I said, "What!? What do you mean?" She asked if I was safe. "Um, yeah, I guess, but this is awful, now I'm going to be behind schedule and I wanted to be there on time so I could hike the Tor...." And I went on for a few minutes more. Then she said something I never could have expected. "Are you looking at something pretty?" WHAT? What does that even mean? I said, "I don't know, I haven't even looked around." She said, "So, you sit, you wait, you look at something pretty, you'll get here when you get here." And with that, the call was over.
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| Ooops! |
I was furious. Well, isn't she just all mind/body zen balanced crap. (This was years before my current career) But I did realize she was right. I had no other choice but to sit and wait. And while I did that, I might as well look at something pretty. So I did. I turned and looked behind me and through the sparse trees was a golden field, with hills in the background. Little tuffs of plants dotted the landscape. I concentrated on the light hitting the hills as the sun started to set. I listened to the birds, birds that I couldn't identify because they are unique to the English Countryside. I breathed deeply to see what I could smell. And eventually the mechanic came, informed me that the rim was bent and I would have to go to a repair shop before I drove too much farther. He put on the little donut spare and I headed to my bed and breakfast, calmly. And you know what? I got there. When I got there and not a moment sooner or later.
I love this story because it illustrates that we have control over where we put our focus. I could either sit there and be miserable or I could, like she said, look at something pretty. And I spent 3 days sitting on the Tor, enjoying the town, walking their labyrinth and exploring the ruins of the
abbey.
I visited Chalice Well and allowed the cool water to cleanse my stress away even more. Then I spent several actually awesome hours in a repair shop joking with the mechanics. It was one of the highlights. And for a trip that was meant to be a spiritual journey, it's purpose was fulfilled. Not from just the environment, but from the wise words of my inn keep.
Enjoy your journey, wherever it will lead and if you find yourself stressed, just look at something pretty.
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| View from the Tor, overlooking Glastonbury |
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