Even Bees Do It !

Have you been following the story on what's happening with the honey bees? I have and I am captivated and horrified. Apparently they have been vanishing from hives - like zapped up to the mother ship. The ones that remain are usually dead! Bee keepers and farmers are beside themselves with anxiety and fear...and we should be concerned too.

Without bees, there goes our fruits, vegetables and flowers. Well, fruits and vegetables may still be available but in extremely limited supply and at prices that may be astronomical! And this is not a someday-it-may-happen sci-fi kind of story. We may be experiencing the effects of little to no pollination by next summer.

Scientists have been researching this phenomenon and have come up with a very scary label called "Colony Collapse Disorder". Yikes! That DOES have a foreboding ring to it, doesn't it?

They are unsure as to all the causes of CCD but some that I found intriguing, and frightening are:

• Pesticides
• Poor nutrition
• An "AIDS-like" virus which lowers the immune system
• Moving ALOT! (Hives are rented out by bee keepers to farmers for weeks at a time for pollination purposes and then they are moved to another farm to begin again
• And finally...drum roll please...STRESS

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our humble honey bees are stressed! The above factors have created an insect which is highly stressed and not very healthy with a suppressed immune system, not unlike us, huh?

Bees, usually viewed as a nuisance...bearers of stingers and disrupters of picnics...are actually mirrors, reflectors of our human lives. Are we not impacted by the use of pesticides? And poor nutrition? And who among us has not suffered from the results of a move, let alone many moves made involuntarily every couple of weeks?

And lastly, ponder this one word: STRESS! It's not enough that we run around day after day in a constant state of stress but now we have extended our stressors to an insect - and one we rely upon to help feed us. Can we teach a bee to slow down, meditate, practice yoga, breathe? Unlikely. Busy as a bee and all that. But what about the environmental factors that are causing our devoted bees to become ill? Surely we CAN address some of those. For our own sakes.

Next time you bite into a crunchy apple, pop a delicious red strawberry into your mouth, or admire the colorful variety of veggies lining a salad bar, give thanks to the honey bee.

Trust Your Gut

Several years ago I was traveling, with my three kids and the dog, from my home in Tennessee to visit my mother in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Toys, clothes, snacks and dog food were all packed in our blue station wagon and the REAL restlessness had finally set in as we were quickly approaching Grandma's house. I was driving the last leg, up a 9 mile dirt road which was more of a rutted path, really, than a road. It twisted and turned back on itself repeatedly. The going was laborious. The children, of course, were oblivious as they sang loudly "Over the river and through the woods..."

I was near the very top, the last hairpin turn, when suddenly I felt, quite strongly, that something was wrong. I slowed and pulled the car over to the right just as far as I was able on that narrow road and at that moment another car slid wildly around that blind corner, spewing pebbles and dirt into the air and onto our car. Had I not pulled over in anticipation, he would have plowed into us.

What was it that warned me of impending danger? What was that "something" that caused me to pull the car off the road? A gut feeling? An inner knowing? A sixth sense? That still, small voice? Intuition?

Yes, yes, yes and yes!

It is my belief that we make choices everyday based on our inner knowing or intuition. Some of us are much better than others at heeding it. Though I'm a big believer in intuition, I cannot say that I've always been particularly smart about paying attention to it. I have often found myself trying to REASON away those urgings or arguing with that small voice.

I ALWAYS regret it!

How about you?

Stillness

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. ~Lao Tzu~

A few days ago, I was sitting by the lake near my home - a place I often go for quiet reflection, meditation and journaling. On this particular day, the lake appeared very calm, the sky reflected perfectly in the still water. But looking closer, I could see the lake was alive. A water turtle broke the surface for just a moment before it ducked into the mud and scurried away at my uninvited approach. A baby alligator, maybe 4 ft long, remained motionless, watching me about 20 ft away. Birds of every variety surrounded me, oblivious to the inner churnings, longings and confusion within the human spirit that share their lake home. Suddenly, as if by some silent signal, fish began jumping in unison. A predator, unseen to me, must have a arrived for breakfast. Even the gator shifted his position.

How often do we appear calm and serene on the outside to the casual observer, yet in reality our center is a churning mess? Is it any wonder that so many of us suffer indescribable pain from stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia? Our spirit longs desperately for quiet rest. As our society twirls and spins, seemingly out of control, pulling many of us into its vortex of hurrying and doing, we forget to breath, forget to see, forget who we are. Why we are.

Try to find a moment today to sit still. Really still. No tv or talk radio. Just watch your chest rise and fall. Feel your stomach expand and contract. We are not robots or machines that can go and go and go - not without irreparable damage. Slow down and be still.

See...you are a living, breathing being - just like your new baby sleeping peacefully in the next room, or your dog lying quietly, patiently at your feet, or the butterfly fluttering by your window.

Or even that alligator floating... just below the surface of the water.

Life Coach Linda

Helping People Wake-up!