Sailors in a storm have no choice other than to live in the moment. A brief lapse of attention brings disaster. Most of the time, we don’t need mindfulness to survive. But it is good to practise mindfulness in our daily life; it will always take us towards a place of emotional calm; and one day, when life’s difficulties batter us, it may make all the difference.
The small boat flees before the wind
As the storm wrestles the ocean into a swell,
Throwing it through darkness across leagues.
Like a puma, a wave advances silently,
Gathers speed,
And flings itself with a roar upon its prey.
The sailors steer direct towards each wave,
Accept the fury and the peril,
Use the water’s strength to lift them clear.
The voice of the murderous surf deafens them.
It bellows of southern tempests where the ocean rears into cliffs
As solid and more perilous than a rock face.
It shouts of the calving of glaciers into the sea,
The surge of the sea when a million tons of ice plunge into it.
It whispers of Krakatoa, and breathes the name of Atlantis.
The small boat reaches harbour.
Behind the breakwater
Vessels great and small
Are safe.
Autumn Leaves 