When my middle daughter was in elementary school, she had a jacket with a stubborn zipper. Sometimes it worked, smoothly traveling up the track and at other times it wouldn’t budge. Usually, it would be most uncooperative in the morning, just as she was to be heading out to catch the bus. “Mom, my zipper’s stuck!” Now it would be my turn to tackle the challenge. Hurriedly, I’d slip the one side of the zipper into the slider and start to zip. Nothing. It wouldn’t budge. I’d try again. The darn thing wouldn’t move. Anxiety mounting, the bus’s arrival imminent. Damn it! We were caught in the loop, the daily jacket zippering test!
Then, one morning, I stopped. I decided that this was not the way to start the day. Pissed off at a zipper with stress levels mounting. I took a deep breathe, looked my daughter in the eye and said, “We must Find the Zen of the Zipper.” My daughter smiled, albeit quizzically. Calm descended and, voila, on the next try, the zipper smoothly slipped up the track and she was out the door. This "Finding the Zen" became part of our morning routine and we soon discovered we could attach it to any task. My girls and I could "find the zen of the missing sneaker", "find the zen of the forgotten permission slip", or my favorite, "find the zen of fifteen minutes for dinner before the after-school sports relay begins". Whenever, we/I tried to Find the Zen, things got a little easier.
Since then, “Finding the Zen” has become my mantra and it fits me perfectly.
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