The Tale Of A Wannabe Buddhist

This past Friday our five-year-old nephew, Michael, slept over at our house. The kid cracks me up with the stuff that comes out of his mouth. For instance, he told me that his favorite thing to drink is Sprite, for some reason this makes me laugh. He also called Anthony a pervert for giving me a couple pats on my booty which I again, promptly giggled at. Michael is also full of questions as he is a very inquisitive little fella. As he walked around our home he would ask, “what’s this for?”, “why do you have that?”, “why do you burn this stick?” referring to my palo santo. Poor child probably thinks I’m either cool and unique or a total freaking weirdo. I like to think I’m a combination of all three of those. Eventually, the little dude found my collection of Buddhas. “What’s this?”, he asked. I said, “Who’s this? It’s Buddha.” He was full of questions about why he was fat, why I have so many of him, and what is he for? As to not get too deep on this little human, I told him that he can rub his big belly for good luck and handed him an extra miniature Buddha I had in my desk drawer. That’s how many Buddhas I have around the house, I have extras. He was laying on the bed with his uncle and started making wishes and rubbing Buddha’s belly. Again, I chuckled and told him he wasn’t necessarily a magic genie.

Having this sweet conversation with Michael got me thinking. Why do I love my Buddhas so much? What is it about him that I am so attracted to? I have been into Buddha and Buddhism ever since college. I was raised Roman Catholic, but once I left my Catholic high school I had the opportunity to learn about other cultures and religions. My eyes, ears, and heart began to open up to more than what I was just told about in a classroom. I began to realize that I related more to quotes from Buddha than verses from the Bible. I later committed to teaching yoga on a daily basis as my career of choice and the rest is history. Would I say that I am a practicing Buddhist? No. Would I say I am a practicing Buddhist wannabe that spiritually connects with the lessons of Buddha? Yep, yes I would. As I was looking for a quote by the enlightened one, I found the one below and thought it could pertain to almost everyone.

“Every morning we are born again. What we do today matters most.”

This one here is a triple whammy. Not only is there encouragement to begin the day fresh, there is also a hint of gratitude and mindfulness; a little less worrying about the past and future and more living in the moment and absorbing the new day in all its glory. I owe it to my little nephew Michael. Without knowing it, he has totally inspired me to dive deeper into my spirituality and the teachings of my friend Buddha. With this new day, I’ll find the little Michael within me and will begin to ask more questions about who this teacher was and what it was that he taught.

Have a beautiful week TSPeeps!

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