One day a woman was able to do something that she had always dreamed of, buy a home with many acres of land, with miles of beautiful sunsets and sunrises. It was the most idyllic setting she could ever have imagined.
Years earlier when she had come to visit the area, she had come upon a woman who owned a beautiful piece of property and in the middle of the property, far out from the house, was a rock. This rock was grand, with its silky smooth surface and gentle edges. It was only so high and flat on one end and then gradually inclined on the other. On this rock this woman would be able to sit with her legs crossed and meditate, or on the incline if she chose she could lie down as she bathed in the warm sun. She spent many hours a day on this rock, reading, meditating, or simply enjoying a warm cup of tea while looking at a beautiful sunset.
This woman wanted to move to this place for as long as she can remember, and since meeting that woman and learning of her most sacred place, she had carved that imagine in her mind and always hoped to create such a retreat for herself.
When the day finally came for her to move into her new home, in no time she is unpacked and well on her way to feeling as if she had been there forever. The only thing that she hadn’t gotten into place was her “rock”.
Early one morning she had decided that it was time to find that rock, that sacred place to call her own, so she set out on a path through the acres of land that were now hers and she searched and she searched.
She began to realize very quickly that this was not going to take just one journey, that it might in fact take a very long time to find the perfect rock, but she just had to have it, she needed that space, that sturdy, smooth texture under her, so that she could be at peace and meditate and read her books.
It wasn’t even three days of looking that she became quickly impatient and this time she set out and simply stated to herself, “I must find a rock to call my own.”
So on this day with a strong mind set and determination she set out and looked feverishly about and she finally came upon this rock. She stood by the rock and looked around and climbed upon it, and while it was hard to keep her balance, from the top she looked around and thought, wow what a beautiful sight.
“This is amazing, I did it, I found my rock and now I can begin to have peace and serenity in my life.”
When she stepped back and took in a full view of this rock she felt a heavy sigh come over her as she noticed that the rock really didn’t have a smooth surface to it, but rather a course one. And while it was big, all the sides were slightly inclined so that there really wasn’t a very comfortable place for sitting on it, and there was certainly no place for lying down.
But this was her rock, the one that she had waited for, for so long and she was determined to make it work so that once and for all she could find peace and happiness within.
Day after day, she went out to her rock. The weather was beautiful. Pleasant winds, a soft sun that warmed her skin, and gentle clouds that protected her form the sun feeling too harsh.
The view was to die for.
Sometimes she would come out early in the morning and see the sun rise behind her house and other times she would come at dusk and watch the sun go down.
As she sat on the rock though, her back would hurt terribly as there was no flat surface to sit on, the course texture took its toll on her bare feet and hands. She hardly ever read because she couldn’t concentrate. She certainly couldn’t meditate because she couldn’t find a comfortable position. She could only sit, not lay down and it was very soon that her body began to get very tired.
She had noticed that while she was sitting out there, her body was tense all the time and simply to find good posture and balance on this rock was impossible.
Soon she began to get angry.
“Why can’t this rock be perfect like that other woman’s rock?”“She had everything.”
She wished for a moment that she could find a big chisel and bang this rock into a shape that worked better for her. Then she quickly realized that even if she did that, she could never get the texture to be the same silky smooth texture that the other rock was.
“Why does this have to happen this way, why can’t anything ever work out for me, so that once and for all I can have peace in my life?” she yelled out loud.
One day the woman brought a friend to her rock. She was kind of excited about finally sharing it with someone else.
When her friend reached the area of the rock, she looked puzzled.
She said, “ I don’t get it, how could you possibly come out here and be at peace with a rock that is so unsuitable to what you have always wanted?”
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to find a clearing over there in the meadow and lay a blanket down so that you can sit more comfortably?”
No!, the woman exclaimed.
“This is how I always planned for it. Others have made it work and I can make it work too. I deserve this. I deserve to have good things.”
And so for a very long time, this woman continued to make her way out to her rock in an attempt to find comfort and peace.
Over the years, her body began to wear down. Her legs and hands with calluses, her back so sore it made it hard for her to walk.
Time again she would look over at the meadow and think about what it would be like to lay out a blanket or sit in a small chair amongst the grasses. It wouldn’t take much to do at all, but as she looked over to the other part of the land, she realized she was afraid.
For so long she had held onto her belief that this is what it meant to be happy and so she clung to it with all her might. It didn’t even matter to her that it wore her down.
“To have something good in life takes commitment and dedication” she told herself.
More and more, as her body began to ache, she would look over at the meadow.
New neighbors had moved in over the years and one day she saw the family of four sharing a blanket and having a picnic out in their yard. They seemed so happy, so at peace, so free to move around as they pleased.
She slowly began to entertain the thought, that maybe there was something to all of that. That maybe it wasn’t in fact the rock at all that was the key to her happiness.
But she couldn’t be sure.
“One day” she said to herself, “maybe I will try that and see what it would be like.”
One day… she thought, as she lifted her face up to greet the warm sun.
