My chook, Pesky, looking for a star to steer by

Stars to steer by; we need them, whether we know we’re using them or not.

A pilot needs a harbour light, a navigator a star or compass bearing, a car driver a traffic light or roadside edge.

But inside the mind as we choose how to steer, what happens there?  How do we ‘see’ the star, what thoughts do we have as we choose how to react to it?

At some moment during so many years in prison, Nelson Mandela chose forgiveness as his star.

So it was that when he was released from prison he won more power, and brought more peace, than if he had left with revenge or hate or bitterness in his mind and heart.

When I lose my bearings I try to remember to ask, “What would Mandela say?”  It’s a beaut question to turn to when things get tough, when things are said or done which might damage me or others.

The answer often brings me to a smile, or a moment of peace or silence or, best of all, laughter.

My chook Pesky asks, “What’s next to peck?”   Or, “Should I run away?”.  She is in perpetual zen, always in the moment – of pecking, or preparing to run, or sunning herself.

Just my thoughts,

M