Note: The following meditation was written by Karen York, a Vice President at Alive Hospice in Nashville and a regular reader of the Journal. ALSO, be sure and see tomorrow’s Journal for the 2006 list of America’s Top 10 Healing Hospitals! – Erie Chapman, Editor
"The grass is always greener…
Why do we always imagine that Joe & Sylvia down
the street have a better life than we have? We watch as he drives his Porsche
into his 3-car garage every night next to her Cadillac Escalade. Each week, the
guys from “Pro-Lawn” manicure their crab-grass-free lawn and prune each hedge
to exact dimensions. We imagine their home life as being filled with classical
music, respectful teenagers, a chef who prepares gourmet meals, and Kiki, the
Bison Frishe that not only doesn’t shed, bark, or chew, but won Best-in-Show at
the Eukanuba dog show last year…
Don’t
even mention their massive walk-in closets with rotating shelves lined with Armani
and Manolo Blahniks. We whine to
ourselves, “Wait a minute; I’m just as good a guy as Joe. I serve on the same PTO committee as
Sylvia. Don’t I deserve the kind of life
they have?”
Admit it, at some point in our lives, and often at some
point across each day, we see something that we wish we had; something just
beyond our reach; something that Joe and Sylvia have. The point is we want what we don’t have. And
what we have just doesn’t seem good enough. We focus on the good that we
perceive is happening to someone else and somehow feel we don’t measure up.
What would happen if we shifted our attention away from
Joe & Sylvia’s apparent success and rather paid attention to our own
circumstances through the lens of gratitude? What if we nurtured our own lawn with loving words and actions?
I came across this quote recently from Robert
Fulghum:
“The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other
side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass
is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with
you and tend the grass where ever you may be.”
As Fulghum shifts our attention away from the grass and the
fence toward the water, it requires us to have a shift of heart about what is
most important. I don’t mean to imply
that we shouldn’t have goals, and make a better life for ourselves. It’s more
about the focus of our energy. When we are focused on possessions we not only
nurture a negative and ungrateful spirit, but we stop nurturing our loving
spirit. That space fills up with bitterness and envy. In some cases, we may be stuck in the mire of
comparison to others, because it is too frightening to look inward at
ourselves. We’re afraid to open the doors to those skeletons we locked away so
many years ago. We’re afraid of our own
success. We’re afraid that those around us might not understand us or love us
anymore.
What implications does this have toward your ability to be a
loving caregiver? When we operate in
negativity and fear, we become jaded and can no longer be open to the
possibilities that are right in front of us. We can no longer respond to the
suffering of people who need our care because our once watered lawn has turned
to dust. We have no more joy to give.
When is the last time you looked down at the grass beneath
your feet? Is it weedy and yellow from
lack of attention? Maybe it’s worn down
to the point where only dirt remains. When is the last time you drank from the
well of loving water? I encourage you to
focus on your own heart, your own well-being, with gratitude for who you are.
I hope for us today that we will open the gates to healing
water and nourish our parched souls. The
grass will be greener by tomorrow.
Journal of Sacred Work 
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