We find ourselves in front of traffic lights and stop signs throughout the day. Rather than view these “stoppings” as an annoyance, we can allow them to create an opportunity to connect with our child, even though they may be miles away. Green, yellow, red -- the colors of the traffic light. We are stopped because the light is red. This can serve as a reminder, a mindfulness helper, to stop and take a deep breath, expanding our belly. As we enter a state of greater calm, our attention turns towards our children. They spend much of the day in a classroom or did when they were younger. We remember the number charts, alphabet charts, and color charts that line the classroom walls, or did when they were younger. And we can visualize our children sitting in a chair learning these wonderful new facts. Learning never ceases and we know that whatever our child is doing while we are stopped in traffic, they have before them an opportunity to learn. So we visualize her now sitting in a small chair in a classroom excitedly learning the colors, her face smiling brightly.
After sensing your child in a wonderful learning state, allow your eyes to gaze at the various colors surrounding you. For example, you may see a blue sky, white clouds, sunshine, green trees and shrubbery, the colors of the clothes you are wearing, and the colors of the cars alongside you and passing by. These colors are a miracle of the universe and our functioning eyesight. Again, these are the colors our child learned at school. When the light turns green and you accelerate through the intersection, be mindful of your child’s always accelerating knowledge and wisdom. Pausing to reflect on the miracle of the learning process and the excitement it brings to our child, is blissful. Every time I stop at a light, I feel a surge of spontaneous bliss.
