“You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do except limitations of your own mind.” Darwin P. Kingsley

I woke up for third morning in a row with my mind racing at lightening speed. I was obsessively evaluating everything that was not working in my life. My mind was out of control. If I could just generate more income… if my teenage daughter would come out of her bedroom and finally do something… If my husband would free up some quality time for me... On and on my mind flew relentlessly reviewing one problem after another sinking me into a darker and darker mood.

I knew I needed to change energy. I was drowning in it. Leaving my house for a power walk I headed for a nearby pond in woods. I gravitate to this pond when I am in need of reflection or wanting to find my center after a particularly stressful time.

I climbed out onto my favorite rock that juts over water and catches first rays of summer sun. I settled myself and began to breathe in tranquility of natural setting. Suddenly I noticed hundreds of dragonflies flying over pond, all around my rock and in and amongst trees. What a breath taking sight. The iridescent color of their beating wings flitting all around me captivated my attention.

I remembered what I learned about dragonflies from Jamie Sams author of “Medicine Cards”. The idea of “medicine animals” carries suggestion that animals provide a “teaching” offered as a gift for people. Sams writes,” Dragonfly medicine is of dreamtime and illusionary facade we accept as reality”. She suggests, ”On psychological level, it may help to breakdown illusions you have that restrict your actions or ideas”.

These amazing creatures had offered me a powerful gift of awareness. I realized that “illusions” I was filling my mind with were source of my stress and internal pain.

I headed back home with excitement and a resolve to take a fresh look at what was bothering me. I began to reexamine “problems” I was convinced I was having. I thought about what facts were versus my feelings about facts.

I got to poking through some of old things I'd saved and came across a wonderful little article from an issue of "Guideposts Magazine." It's by Arthur Gordon and is titled "The Rewards of Caring."

He tells story of how once, as a small boy, he was witness to a near-tragedy. At beach, a woman stepped off a sandbar into deep, swift water and panicked. At least 20 adults in bathing suits watched, apparently paralyzed, until suddenly a young man ran up, plunged in fully clothed, and brought woman out.

As Arthur Gordon described episode later to his parents, his admiration for young man was matched by contempt he felt for those who failed to act. She was drowning, and they didn't even seem to care.

His father looked at him thoughtfully and said, "The world often seems divided between those who care and those who don't care enough. But don't judge too harshly. It takes courage to care greatly."

It does take courage to care, to open your heart and react with sympathy or compassion or indignation or enthusiasm when it is easier--and sometimes safer--not to get involved. But people who take risk, who deliberately discard armor of indifference, make a tremendous discovery: The more things you care about, and more intensely you care,the more alive you become.