I learned a lot about myself today when a bumblebee landed on my toe. It tickled and my first reaction was to try and shake it off and get away from it. And then I recalled bumblebees can sting more than once, and they don't have an incentive not to sting (like the honey bee) and I did not want to get stung. It continued to explore the bottom of my foot and, when it seemed satisfied, it flew away. And then I noticed that I felt relief; I had audibly exhaled. I've been holding my breath afraid of this little bumblebee, hoping that it chose not to sting me.
And almost as quickly as I'd had this thought, it came back. It landed on my shoulder, buzzed around my face, and then rested in the palm of my hand. When I stood up, it stayed. And when I walked around, it followed me. When I realized that this bee had no ill-will toward me, and I realized that I had no ill-will toward it, that’s when I realized that it was my fear, my fear that was controlling me. A bee has no reason to sting unless we give it one. Allergies aside, we are a much greater threat to the life of a bee than a bumblebee is to us. Yet our knee-jerk reaction is to close ourselves off and react from a place of fear.
I realize that's how many of us engage with each other in the world. And how can we ever have an authentic interaction with another being if we're constantly worried that the other being is going to cause us harm? One of the gifts of being human is that we have a choice. We can choose to not react from a place of fear, not assume the worst in the other, and greet each other with an open heart and maybe have an authentic intentional connection with another being.
Many blessings. You are loved!
Bert
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