to stay the course....................

       Yesterday, in the middle of an internal tempest—a raging internal debate about my own capacities—I walked to the coffee shop down the road for a treat.  On the way, I noticed that the cool air and warm sun seemed perfectly untroubled by the momentous issues and feelings that were swirling through my body.

      Nearing the coffee shop, I looked across the street to the mini-mall that has a head store, a Curves franchise, a beauty salon, and some other shop I can't recall.  There, in the window of the salon, was a hand-written sign saying: "Thank you for your devotion."

      Now I know there is some logical explanation of why they put that sign in their window that has nothing to do with me.  But, in that moment, I knew it was just for me.  The universe had decided I needed some direct encouragement to stay the course—to have faith through the turbulence.

      I laughed out loud, made a small bow, and got a warm cup of foggy-morning coffee with room for cream.

-David Rynick,  This Truth Never Fails:  A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons