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An Honest Idiot

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An Honest Idiot

This morning, while riding the bike at the gym, a guy behind me started running on a treadmill, a very noisy treadmill. Rather than hop onto one of the many available quiet ones, he continued running. I thought, “What an F’ing idiot!” Was he clueless, I thought? Did he not realize the amount of noise the machine was making?

Personally, I allowed the noise to get to me and I couldn't seem to switch around the thoughts. After a few minutes, I remembered a moment when I first moved into this apartment. The guy above me would happen to make some very loud noises early in the morning. I turned the situation around and realized that maybe it was time for me to get up; it was my personal alarm clock. A few days later I realized that I could ‘hear’ the noise; I felt grateful for my sense of hearing; soon after, the noise stopped bothering.

The piece here is titled “Blown-Up.” I chose this piece today because sometimes we allow things to get blown out of proportion. The more I heard the noise of the treadmill, the more I allowed myself to be bothered. I wanted to turn around and tell him to stop. I kept quiet, but the turmoil had built up inside me.
When I finished my turn on the bike, I stopped myself from turning around and giving him a dirty look. In that moment of consciously not turning around, everything stopped and I knew that I had the choice to look at that situation however I wished to see it. I stopped and felt gratitude for being able to hear.

May you go out into the world and LISTEN! Listen and give thanks.
Cheers!