The Spider and the Wasp
Outside my bathroom window is a little alcove which, because of all its corners, is a favorite spot for spiders. The alcove – and often my windowpanes as well – are filled with all manner of silvery, glistening webs meant to catch meaty delights to satiate hungry arachnids. Yesterday, as I sat by the window, I witnessed something I’d never seen before. A yellow jacket flew into a web, catching itself in the sticky prison. The wasp panicked, thrashing itself about. And, as one thread broke in the violence to escape capture, several others took its place. For a moment, I pondered if the wasp was doing itself more harm than good with all its tossing about.
Then – dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun – out came the spider from its hidey-hole, the crack between the wall and finish moulding. It scurried along the bouncing snare with ease, trouncing upon the tail-end of the trapped insect. I’m engrossed. What will happen next? I wondered at the size of the spider – only half that of the yellow jacket – and the fact that he chose the stinging end to jump on. Who will be the victor in this glorious battle -- the spider or the wasp?
In an instant, I had my answer. Either the spider made a strategic error and was stung (though it didn’t appear to be), or it just decided it was too much trouble and opted to wait for the wasp to die down. At any rate, the arachnid retreated, leaving yellow jacket once again alone in its desperate mission.
It continued its struggle, flinging itself this way and that. A thread snapped – yes! But then others quickly stuck, wrapping about him like a sickly cocoon. But yellow jacket didn’t give up. Clearly, he would not go down easy. He trashed and bashed himself about like a storm-tossed frigate on the great seas. How would it end? I was greatly curious.
Then the magical moment happened. One tread broke, and another, and another as he yanked himself out. And suddenly he was FREE! Dis-ensnared, he dashed away without looking back and was gone in an instant. I celebrated his escape and took to heart the lessons.
Fighting for Your Life
We are often struck, in observing nature, with the violence of the struggle for life. With some notable exceptions, such as war, few humans face imminent threat on a daily basis. So, when we do witness the violent struggle for survival, we are often abhorred and have to look away. It is too much to watch a snow leopard or wild dog tearing apart its prey.
As humans, we live sheltered lives, while this quest for survival goes on silently about us with barely our notice. In industrialized and technologized society, we live in the land of Comfort and sit at the table of Plenty. Yet, there are other threats to our lives…
Moment by moment our ability to experience peace, joy and fulfillment – in other words, to awaken our minds to the knowledge of our True Selves -- is threatened. Danger stalks by way of self-induced pressure, fear resulting from the separation-mind, complacency, distraction and _______ (fill in the blank).  So the question that arises is, “How is your life threatened?” Are you filled with peace and joy every moment of your day? Do you live in a state of perpetual plenty, where the fulfillment of need is spontaneously manifest? Do you walk in Power? Are you as happy as you would like to be? Do you love yourself? If you can say “no” to any of these things, it may be time to assess your priorities and sniff out what is threatening YOU. Then, take a lesson from Yellow Jacket and FIGHT!
The Valiant Struggle
In observing Yellow Jacket, I was amazed at its tenacity, determination; at its very will to live. Animals fight for their lives. If they notice a need, they do something about it. If they’re hungry, they hunt. If they’re sick, they look for the cure by eating herbs or grasses, rubbing their bodies on something, etc. They don’t numb their minds on drugs, distract themselves with sex, shopping, partying or whatever, then walk around in a dream state, pretending everything’s okay. Yet, as humans, we do this all the time.
I’m not saying this from any judgmental standpoint. Not at
all. We all chose to enter the valiant struggle of 3rd dimensional density for
a reason, to experience certain lessons. We are here by choice and we
have power to learn and change and grow. If we feel we aren't fully
awake, it is time to escape the web of illusion and go about learning our
lessons. So take one from the book of Yellow Jacket -- and FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!
copyright 2008 by Ashandra-Aah
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