We get to allow it to evoke in us a completely unexpected and fresh response. The spark of spontaneity and clear seeing can cut through a sense of dread and illuminate a core truth about being human: whatever happens in any moment, we get to engage with it, alchemize it, and redeem it by finding what it has to offer rather than just focusing on what it seems to be taking away.

Holding the vine with one hand, she picks the strawberry with the other. The woman sees a ripe wild strawberry nearby. Only the vine keeps her alive.Two mice, one white and one black, start to gnaw at the vine. Far below, another tiger is waiting to eat her. She reaches a precipice, grabs the long root of a vine and swings herself over the edge. HereвЂ™s my retelling of a well-known Zen koan that speaks to this:ДЄ woman traveling across a field encounters a tiger in the tall grass. ThatвЂ™s one of their gifts: They can wake us up to the sweetness at hand. This aliveness is our birthright, and challenging times can ignite it. When life seems impossible or discouraging to us, beauty, pleasure and humor are needed more than ever, and they are available, in every moment, courtesy of the creative spark that lives in each of us. IвЂ™m not kidding, though I am being playful, because thatвЂ™s the whole point. So, what if he was able to accept this вЂ“ not in defeat and resignation, but because itвЂ™s the self-compassionate, pragmatic thing to do? And, what if having accepted it, he realized that he could form a different kind of relationship with the boulder? What if he got to know that boulder and discovered that it was his favorite thing about being alive because it was what he knew most intimately? What if he befriended it and named it Patricia? Sisyphus, according to the myth, canвЂ™t change the fact that heвЂ™ll be rolling that boulder up hill every day, forever. However, I also know that no matter what our circumstances, we always have a choice about how we relate to whatвЂ™s happening.

Because yes, itвЂ™s no easy thing to push a boulder uphill every day for eternity. WasnвЂ™t there some other way? Just because the Gods condemned him to pushing the boulder up the hill, did that mean that he had to be miserable forever? That seemed to be what the myth was teaching, but I just didnвЂ™t buy it. And, usually, we just start pushing again.ДЄ while ago I started to seriously (and playfully) wonder about Sisyphus. But often we end up right back where we started: at the bottom of the hill beside our boulder (our co-worker/loved one, our commute, our own feelings). For many people, the tendency is to push our way through. It can be difficult to accept the way things are if people, situations or our own reactions donвЂ™t match up with our stories about how life is supposed to look and feel. Or maybe, you wish you didnвЂ™t feel discouraged, and you criticize yourself for feeling that way. For example, maybe thereвЂ™s a co-worker or a loved one who you have a challenging relationship with, or maybe you have a long commute to work each day and you dread facing the traffic. I see this myth as a reflection of how we sometimes relate to aspects of our lives that we donвЂ™t like. Do you know the Greek myth of Sisyphus? Short version: Mortal angers the gods and is condemned to eternally push a boulder up hill every day, only to have the boulder roll down hill every night.

Sisyphus boulder