By Lynn Shaw, Laugh Therapist
Recently my 14-year-old son could not locate his wallet. He spent several days
asking if I had seen it, several days looking for it, and several days stewing
about it.
I did not join in the search because he is notorious for walking past his shoes
while asking, "Where are my shoes?" I thought this was another one of
those moments.
On the fourth day of the "lost wallet saga," my husband stood in my
office doorway and asked, "Have you prayed yet?" You see, my family
knows when I pray to find lost an object, it usually is found within a short
period of time. This used to annoy my husband because he would look and look and
pray and pray and still not find the lost item. But over time he has come to
embrace my gift and now when he loses things, even at work, he will call me and
say, "Would you pray?" And usually, but not always, the item appears.
As I glanced up at my husband after his reference to the wallet saga, I said,
"No, I haven't." As he continued to look at me questioningly, I
confessed, "I get so annoyed with our son that I didn't take his lost
wallet seriously." As my husband continued to look at me with now raised
eyebrows, I said, "Okay, okay, I'll pray, but let me clear the negativity
first." I realized in that moment that I had held onto my annoyance towards
my son over yet another lost item and that I had clouded my clarity with my
resentment.
Has that happened to you? You lose the compassion for another, whom you truly
adore and love yet you find yourself clouding your clarity with resentment,
annoyance, and frustration. It certainly can rob you of the spirit of kindness,
appreciation, and ultimately laughter with that person. It didn't take long for
me to shift my perspective as I chose to move from annoyance to compassion. And
then I prayed. And I joined the search. Even after the rest of the household had
gone to bed, I waited, prayed, and continued the search.
In doing so, I found that all of my annoyance had cleared. And, just as I was
about to call it a night, I found the wallet in an obscure place where it made
no sense why it had been placed there. Placing the wallet where my son would
walk past it in the morning, I smiled at the delight he would experience. And,
the next morning, sure enough, I heard, "Mom, did YOU find my
wallet...thanks!" And, I smiled. During this month of Thanksgiving, may
you experience a heart of clarity, compassion, and smiles.
Lynn Shaw resides in Indiana and is the creator and
instructor of the Self-Healing Expressions course
Laughter for the Healing Heart.
Learn more about Lynn and her course here:
