Going With The Flow Can Lead To Some Nice Places

It’d been a lazy Saturday starting with the luxury of sleeping in and leisurely going about my morning, sipping coffee, and pretending to do chores.  I continued the the day at the same a relaxed pace, walking the dog and tending to some online tasks and writing before heading to a 3:30 hot yoga class.

A Bikram hot yoga class is 90 minutes of Hatha yoga in 105 degrees and 40% humidity.  It’s absolutely imperative to time eating just right before a class, I’ve discovered.  All that heat and a full stomach just do not mix well. I find that it is best not to eat 2 hours before except maybe something small like an apple or a banana.  At around 2:30ish, having only eaten granola and berries for breakfast, I realized that I would’nt last until after class to eat again.  “No problem,” I thought “I’ll just eat now and go to the 6:00 class.”  Upon arriving at the studio a little before 6:00, I found an empty parking lot and a note on the door that said the class had been cancelled.

A little miffed, I thought “OK.  Guess, I’ll take a day off,” and headed home.  Once there, I fixed a heaping bowl of popcorn and watched a movie on demand.  I happened upon this quirky, funny movie, Jeff who lives at home which, to my delight, I really enjoyed.  The movie stars Jason Segel as Jeff, a thirty year old, pot smoking, slacker who lives in his mothers’ basement and Ed Helms, Andy Bernard on the Office, is Jeff’s pretentious brother with Susan Sarandon playing their mother.

Jeff receives a wrong number phone call that morning asking for “Kevin.”  Believing that everything happens for a reason, Jeff takes this to be a sign from the universe.  The movie portrays Jeff’s day as he sets out to get wood glue for his mother, but ends up following the numerous Kevin signs, along his path, which lead to hilarious and unexpected events and run-ins with his brother and sister-in law. I won’t give away the whole story, but let’s just say that, in the end, there was, indeed, a purpose and meaning to it all.

After the movie, it was still light outside so I decided that I would go for a quick run and drove towards one of my favorite running trails at a nearby park.  On the road to the park, ahead of me I could see flashing blue lights and a long line of stopped cars.  So, I quickly whipped into the grocery store parking lot and headed in the other direction towards a different park.

By now, it was after 8:00 and getting dark, but I would still have about thirty good minutes of light, if I hurried.  The park was practically deserted.  Nice. As I began my run on a paved path cutting through the woods, I heard rustling in the leaves to my right and looked over to see four deer.  While I froze and observed them, I sent “I am not going to hurt you.  Don’t be afraid” vibes.

Two of the deer, medium sized, young bucks, were close enough that I could clearly see the budding antlers on top of their heads.  A smaller, curious yearling, eyed me and ventured the closest. I assume the fourth doe was its mother.   I sat down on the path enjoying the gift of their company and the magic of the moment until they bounded away into the woods after which I ran away myself smiling a goofy grin.  Later, as I rounded a corner, there were two more deer grazing in a grassy clearing.

In the end, I didn’t mind one bit that I went to a cancelled yoga class or that I had to drive to a different park.  My encounter with the deer was well worth the detours.  This experience served as a pleasant reminder to me that diversions from my agenda and just going with the flow can, oftentimes, lead to some pretty nice places.  Like the movie suggests, there is a purpose to everything if we’re just patient, relax and allow.

image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/absoblogginlutely/