What Now Brown Cow?

What Now Brown Cow?

©Allen Merritt (2016)

A memory popped into my head just now about riding along in the car as a child and my mother telling me to look for cows and guess what color milk they give. For example, white cows make white milk. Brown cows give chocolate milk and so forth. I guess black and white cows give us that cookies and cream flavor!  Anyways, one thought leads to another and the next thought that entered my brain was, “What now brown cow!”

Ever heard that saying? Since life is always moving as a recent commercial reminded me and things are changing all the time, I guess humans are always faced with many moments of what to do next. One event ends and another begins. But what if you are in limbo?

Winter has passed. Spring is practically behind us and summer is well on its way. Seasons change and everything is having its season, as the saying goes. Do we find ourselves in a holding pattern from time to time not knowing where we are going or what is the best direction to take? Most likely, the answer leans toward the affirmative.

So what to do when you don’t know what to do?

Hurry up and wait?

Whine, complain and declare boredom?

Putz around?

Walk away and forget everything?

Give up?

My mom used to say I had ants in my pants. I always had to be moving around like a wiggle worm. I think that’s true even today.  I want to do something, anything! For me, it’s worse when I just came off a really busy spell and already had a day of rest. Then I go through a getting restless phase caught in juxtaposition, if you will, between waiting for the next event on the heels of a previous one. But I was brought back to reality recently when I spent an evening with an out of town guest who wanted to go downtown, find a particular musician and purchase one of their C.D.s, which we did.

Once back in the car, we put the C.D. into the player and began listening to the soothing sounds of the saxophone. I was taken back in time when I would listen to this kind of relaxing music. I realized how it put me in a better mood and helped me forget the craziness of the day. More importantly, I missed it and needed the music more now than ever. We need to place ourselves in the middle of the calm to be better prepared for the daily rat race and storms that barrage us like dodge balls on the school playground. I felt transported to a different place no longer impacted by the world around me.

As difficult as it may be, sometimes it pays just to sit still and be comfortable right where you are, don’t you think? There is something amazing that happens while we’re being still, calm, cool and collected. It’s like when you can’t figure something out and you take a break before coming back and discovering a solution. We just needed to put it aside for a minute and get out of our head before moving on with the task.

Interestingly, other people pick up on your energy and respond accordingly, which makes me think of how I want to be perceived (even though I know I cannot generally control how others think or what they think).

These are my thoughts as I remember a couple of interconnected moments separated by years. I guess what goes around comes back around; the full circle effect.  I don’t mean this in relation to karma. That’s another conversation. But what I do see is how time flies by and things move along and our lives change (hopefully for the better). We come back to ourselves somehow…our true selves; the person we know ourselves innately to be. The Buddhist tradition teaches us to do this with the sound of a bell at the beginning of meditation practice. The Christian tradition tells us to be still and know. Both are similar in meaning.

So here we are.

What do we do now?

Seek peace and understanding by allowing time to sit there and generate what it will as it will. 

When it is time to get up and actively move, do it.

Let the phrase, “What now brown cow?” be the bell that brings us back to our true state of being and allow us a chance to be still and know everything is alright.

Hope you have a positive happy-go-lucky week!

Cheers!