Dragonfly!
Dragonfly Speeding at Sunrise, July 2014, St. Augustine
The dragonfly is the fastest flying insect on earth. Some species go as fast as 60 mph, with their average speed around 35 mph. Not only do they go fast, their highly refined wings allow them to move straight up and down, hover in mid air, make hairpin turns, halt to sudden stops, and they can even fly backwards. The dragonfly's life cycle is extremely unique. After the mother dragonfly releases the eggs over a body of water, the babies hatch and live underwater as wingless bugs for the first 2-4 years of their lives (the length varies for different species). At maturation a dragonfly bug crawls up on a reed or branch and climbs out of its body a totally new creature with large and fully formed wings. After several hours (up to a few days) this new body hardens and the adult dragonfly takes flight. They fly for the rest of their lives, which is as long as a few months to as brief as a few days.
As I sat at sunrise last week basking in the magnificence of these breathtaking flying creatures, I pondered how fortunate I was to be surrounded by them in this most majestic yet briefest moment of their lives. I imagined merging with one, feeling my body shrink into a tiny tube, seeing my hair strand legs, and sensing the most beautiful, lightweight yet powerful wings extending straight out of the back of my heart. And then I flew! So fast, so daring, so free, so thrilling! The power and the pure euphoria of being the highest and truest expression of myself overtook me and I became bliss...
Later, thinking about how wonderful this feeling was and how I would love to have more of it in my regular life - when I wasn't sitting alone imagining myself merging with bugs, one word came to me: forgive.
Breaking this word up into its two parts makes "for" and "give". As a prefix, "fore" means "pre" or "before in time", so it could be called pre-give. If I look at everyone around me in the sense of pre-giving to them, I feel more accepting of whatever anyone might do or say. I feel more expansive energetically, more loving, more open, and more capable of handling whatever might arise. It confirms my abundance of energy and love. And finally, it allows me to forgive (accept) myself.
The fun thing is that it actually FEELS good to enter into this state of pregiveness! And maintaining this state in whatever situations arise, like bad drivers, slow Starbucks orderers, loud restaurant diners, nighttime beachwalking flashlight eye-shiners - I experience more of the freedom and power and love and euphoria that I felt as the dragonfly. I trust myself to accept anything that comes along, and to make the hairpin turns, hover in one place, or fly backwards whenever I desire, thus creating my perfect life flow. Can it be this fun?!
When I pre-give those around me, I pre-give myself. When I accept myself I have more energy, more happiness, and more light to shine to others. It seems to me that forgiving others = forgiving yourself = taking yourself higher = taking others higher.
May you dart and turn as you so desire when you so desire for your greatest pleasure, and may this dedication to yourself inspire others to do the same!
Love and Light and Pregiveness,
Lucinda