Moods Come and Then They Go

I woke up into a bad mood this morning.  I have no excuse, nothing happened differently this morning apart from any other morning.  Alarm at 5:51 AM, coaching call at 6 AM. The dogs first walk of the day, feed and water them, get coffee and meditate.  "The usual", as my husband might say.  But here I was, in my sitting meditation squirming.

I found myself upset about things that happened months and years ago.  Unable to focus and be present to the moment. I went about the morning with the things we all do, check email, read news, look at job postings and take the dogs to the park and stop off at the grocery store to pick up a few things.

 My mood came to a head in the grocery store.

Here I am, minding my own business.  I am checking out the fresh fruit, getting the proper cheese to make smooth and creamy mac and cheese for dinner tonight with friends, plus a few more odds and ends.   I take my booty to the self-check register and 'pow'.  The register won't accept one of my items and tells me I need to wait for assistance.  "WAIT?!  Are you kidding", my bad mood screamed in my head. 

At 8:30 AM, the number of people working at the grocery store is few and less.  Understandable, as they need to staff the store during their busy hours.  But given the mood I was in, I had little patience to wait for assistance. 

That is when I remembered a teacher of mine who gave a talk about the medieval wheel of fortune.  That fortune goes up and goes down, the real power is to be unaffected by the circumstances, to be in the center of the wheel.  When I first heard that lecture, all I could think about was my lousy love life and that I couldn't pay someone enough to date me.  I was bemoaning my fate.  The next time I remembered that lecture I was in a financial downturn, and I for the first time I thought; "This too shall pass."

Currently, I am experiencing a new level of, well for lack of a better word, disappointments. Once again, I am reminded that this too shall pass.  The point is not to get stuck in negative thinking, or caught in the trap of worry, fear, suffering and sadness. 

Moods come and they go.  To think I can stop a mood, either good or bad, is childish.  To allow myself and others to move through their moods is where real freedom and power lives.