Listening to the wind as it blows

Sookdeo was an elderly man, the oldest man in his village. He has seen the sun rise on many mornings, he has seen it set.

Once tall and strong, Sookdeo is now stooped, his shoulders slightly rounded as though carrying the weight of his age.

His gait is no longer bouncy, it's slow and measured. His skin is leathery, his face a map of wrinkles.

In his old age, Sookdeo spends most evenings sitting quietly in the shade of a tree in his yard, his legs crossed, his eyes closed. Sometimes he would chew on blades of grass, sometimes he would hum, but always his eyes would be closed.

Children, when they pass by his yard on the way home from school on evenings, would call out to Sookdeo.

"Good evening, Mr. Sookdeo," they would say. "How you going, Mr. Sookdeo?"

And Sookdeo would always reply, eyes closed.

"Good evening, good evening, Sookdeo is listening to the wind as it blows."

One evening, Larry, an inquisitive little boy who was always getting in some scrape or another, paused when Sookdeo responded and, head cocked, he asked, "Mr. Sookdeo, why you does only answer so? Why you does only say you listening to the wind blow? Why you don't say things good or things bad or how you feeling?"

And Sookdeo smiled, opened his eyes, and replied.

"Because things are never just good or bad, it is always a mix of things and you cannot just pick out one thing. And how I feel from one moment to the next makes no matter, feelings change. But the wind is always blowing, and to be able to listen to the wind, you must be relaxed and quiet and one with the world around you."

Larry, of course, was more puzzled than anything.

"Mr. Sookdeo," he scratched his head. "You confuse me there."

And Sookdeo again smiled and replied, "When the time comes, you will understand."

The Lessons of the Elderly

My friends, have you ever sought the counsel of an elder? Do you think that they can sometimes speak in confusing parables that, as you grow older, you begin to understand? I have on both counts.

I grew up in a community where many life lessons were passed down from generation to generation through oral instruction. Very often, when the elders of our community taught us, they would do so through a proverb or a story.

In the story above, the gentleman, Mr. Sookdeo, spoke of objectivity and of calmness and serenity when listening for life's instructions instead giving into futile emotions. This is something that elderly people often speak of, however when we are caught up in the exuberance of our youth, when we are still racing time, this is a lesson that is very difficult for us to understand.

Let's unpack Mr. Sookdeo's statement for a bit.

Things are never just good or just bad

Life is full of nuances. It's never just absolutely one thing or another. Sometimes we learn great lessons from unfortunate experiences. Sometimes a moment we particularly enjoy can have a less than pleasant outcome. Life is like a bag of goodies, you dip into it, but you never really know what flavor you'll get.

My friends, I have had many life experiences that I initially labelled as unfortunately humiliating because to pass through the experience I may have had to shed some of my pride. But in hindsight, I don't feel humiliation. After all, why should one feel embarrassed to have learned? Instead, I am grateful for my lessons and experiences because those situations turned out to be beneficial and they taught me important life skills or a better perspective of situations that I might not have had prior to the experience.

Relax, be quiet and one with the world around you

My friends, sometimes, if you presume to be the rigid arbiter of your own fate, the direction your life takes may not be the direction you choose.

You may plan, set schedules and determine that things must happen according to the schedules that you plan and then there is wrinkle, a disruption, an unforeseen circumstance that throws your schedules and plans into disarray, and that could be daunting for you.

In 2019, for example, I proposed to open a store, a book store. This was my dream. And so, I rented the location, made the announcement to friends, planned a grand opening, had huge dreams about my success, and then Covid 19 lockdowns came swooping in like a vulture, and it viciously chomped and clawed away at my funds.

When I finally decided to give up on my store, I was so depressed I couldn't sleep for weeks. I quietly buried my dreams and disappeared from social media for months while I swallowed my grief and humiliation. And at first, for a time, I raged against the world. But with the blinds drawn in my room and the lights off, my angry tears only made me sick.

And then one day, during this period of grief and anguish, I was working on a consultancy project for a friend. As part of that project, I had to listen to a lecturer conduct a yoga class. The lecturer was calm and soothing and as her voice washed over me like waves, I closed my eyes, and for the first time in a very long time, I felt less anxious. And in those moments, for the first time in a very long time, I stopped thinking of life like the train that had left me.

Today, I have drawn some very valuable lessons from that period that I thought was so terrible. I have learned to be so much more cautious about business and to be more careful in my planning and to also put contingencies in places for a downturn, a prolonged downturn.

And I learned, as I share with you today, even if your life schedules may go off kilter, it doesn't mean that you won't ever realize your dreams.

Do not be disheartened. Opportunity may not come wrapped in the same packaging the second time around, but it will come again as sure as the Earth spins on its axis, as sure as the sea ebbs and flows, as sure as the sun rises and sets, as sure as the moon follows its cycle, as sure as the seasons rotate. And when it does come again, be prepared.

In the meantime, even if you've faced a temporary disappointment, it's important to continue to live. Enjoy life. Do not be complacent or careless or nonchalant, but do not be overly anxious either, for life's lessons aren't learnt in moments of anxiety, they are learned when we are calm and quiet and listening and, most of all, receptive.

So let's look at Mr. Sookdeo again, shall we?

To the untrained eye, Mr. Sookdeo may initially appear to be complacently sitting and whiling his time away. Look closer, for rather than idle repose, the elderly man of the village is spending his waning years in meditation. Every evening without fail, he sits Sukhasana, focuses on opening up his root chakra and finds peace and serenity and alignment in the world around him, listening to the wind as it blows.

Have a peaceful weekend, my friends.