Wedge-tailed Eagle

This scene was captured in the high and distant skies, right at the limits of my lens, when I spotted a Magpie relentlessly swooping a Wedge-tailed Eagle. I was so amazed by how the Eagle remained calm and unfazed. It just casually kept cruising, onward to clearer sky.

Life can be a swooping Magpie sometimes, and it prompted me to consider how I respond to unfavourable scenarios, am I zen like the Eagle?

Well, the answer didn't come to me until later in my journey, when I was a deep into 10 Day Vipassana - a silent meditation retreat - in the Blue Mountains. I sat still and meditated for 10 hours a day, without speaking. After a while, the level of pain and physical discomfort became intolerable. Vipassana meditation teaches you how to truly accept the reality of your circumstances, without resistance. It teaches you that it's not the pain itself that makes you suffer, it's how you react to it. You realise when you cease to react, cease to label the pain as bad, and keep your equanimity (a balanced mind), you can literally sit in pain without suffering. It was an astounding experience. Having experienced that truth within the framework of my body, I could then apply it to the rest of life.

And the fact is, most of life's happenings are made up of things we can't control. Ultimately, when faced with unfavourable circumstances, we can spend our time resisting, and complaining about the unfairness of it all, or we can accept things as they are, and focus on keeping our equanimity - a calm and balanced mind.

The Wedge-tailed Eagle reminds us that we have a choice in how to respond to life's challenges: We can resist, or we can surrender.

Are you facing unfavourable circumstances in your life right now? Is there anything that you're resisting? Could you benefit from accepting things as they are, and focusing on what you can control?