When I lived the Rainforest, I had the pleasure of meeting a very prestigious serpentologist, Dr. Silva. He was the director of the Hospital were my husband had been assigned and while we were serving our time in the thickness of the Amazon, natives and villagers frequently came to our hut to bring live snakes or venom that they had extracted from a snake. We had been instructed to keep the samples in the only generator supplied appliance we had, the refrigerator, while the weekly airplane came from the urban center where Dr. Silva lived, the capital of the Colombian Amazon, Leticia.

He had a serpentarium and a laboratory, where he injected gradual doses of venom in horses. The horses’ bodies react by creating antibodies to defeat the poison. The antibodies will eventually be extracted to be used as the antivenin that can allow a person to survive a snake’s bite, if injected quickly enough. This must usually be done within the first hour after the bite.

Dr. Silva supplied anti-venom to many of the South and Central American nations. I had seen the extremities affected by snake bites. If the victim was lucky enough to survive, the arm or leg shriveled like a prune, skin adhering to the bone and dramatically diminishing the size of the affected body part.

As I pondered about the negativity that abounds in media and in the national mood lately, the idea of antivenins popped into my mind. Our soul also has the ability to create defense potions against the darkness and doubt that abounds and frequently invades our attitudes. We are capable of producing healing thoughts, but it requires a laboratory technique too, developing the strong will to convert negative thoughts in to positive ones and to locate the adequate antivenin for each malaise of the soul.

When we feel anger or resentment, we can receive them as gifts, because they are powerful feelings. Then, we have to release them, substituting them with gratitude, letting the awareness of our many blessings take the place of the bitterness or the exasperation. We can further the transformation by directing blessings towards the reason or person who inspired the feeling, this will further release us from the grips of offense or feeling victimized.

When we feel scared, we can remind ourselves that whatever is causing us anxiety  will pass and that we are protected and cherished. Whatever afflicts us hides an important lesson within and is a part of a bigger, masterfully crafted plan.

When you feel neglected or lacking in any aspect, remind yourself that there is abundance in the universe. There is an open tap of blessings, there is more to go around than we can manage to request, but if we think in terms of scarcity and from a perspective of need, we will only feed these uncertainties. Even the birds in the fields are fed and the lilies adorned.  Everything we require will be provided.

When you feel ashamed or insufficient, remember you are enough, you have achieved what you could so far, and you are still evolving and growing every minute.

When you start to doubt your time or your current situation, remember that you are exactly where you are meant to be in this moment of time, and the future will be even better.

When problems and worries bog you down, remember that there is a solution for every complication, and in each one of them is hidden the gem of a lesson.

When you feel resistance against a feeling or a situation, practice acceptance, surrender to the flow of life and keep growing your patience muscles.

Every poison dose of negativity around or within you can trigger a reaction of defense and protection. You can train your mind to respond with the right  antivenins so that you can see clearly and manage to live passionately and enjoy your journey. Above all, don’t let your heart shrivel!  

With love, Lina Cuartas©2010

Yesterday, as I hung my sheets out to dry in the sun and the light blinded me, I realized I no longer question the value of my chore. I am no longer preoccupied by questions about the efficiency of my labor: whether hauling this mass of wet cotton and patiently draping it on my clotheslines to dry makes sense, while I have a perfectly functional clothes dryer in the house.

I rejoice in the rite, in the activity itself. I get a glimpse of the bottom of the pot as I stir my daily potion of house chores. I penetrate, through repetition and the familiarity of my tasks, folding socks or putting away clothes and lovingly spreading a bedspread, aiming to smooth away all the wrinkles of the linens- into the profound thoughts of the Woman that I am.

I am in harmony with every rhythm of this being that grows in the apparent simplicity of her labor. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a matrix and the foundation of an axis around which life revolves. I know my presence is indispensable. I feel like a massive, strong oak, with glossy green leaves and abundant acorns.

The constant trickle of my daily activities, apparently insignificant, simple, trivial, mechanical, must be done, but they need to be assumed with flexibility and an open heart, a heart that desires to be receptive to that which life offers day after day: hidden miracles.  The only way to unlock them is to fully inhabit the magic of every moment.

Mind, body and soul can engage in the most banal of chores. Our “monkey minds” need to focus, and cease regretting, desiring with anguish for a different situation and dive into the gift of the present. Too frequently we waste our time and energy wishing we were in someone else’s shoes, or that we were in a different place, while missing out on the full awareness of the moment that is unfolding right before our eyes. It’s like wishing to be watching another movie while your own blockbuster is flashing in full color for your delight!

We are where we need to be at this moment so that we can eventually arrive where we aspire to be in the future. Come back home into your fully aware self. We do not change situations or things by escaping them mentally or withdrawing from life. We need to surrender, with open eyes, and accept life as it unfolds whole-heartedly. If you are mad, get furious, and live your moment passionately. If you are happy, let your heart soar and hop along the sidewalk. If you are sad, walk inside your woe and let your tears flow. Do not fear your feelings, they are part of the blessing of our human condition, and they hold the secrets of getting to know ourselves and thoroughly experience our existence.

This moment is perfect the way it is. We are who we are. There is logic to the process, a precision to the clockwork, and we need to let go, we are not the control masters. Our only power resides in walking through the portal of each day, ready to engage fully and inhabit the transcendence of the moment.

With love,

Lina M. Cuartas © 2010