Tranquility Can Be Found in the Oddest of Places - All You Need is to be in the Right State of Mind (by Darah)

Peace and tranquility can be found anywhere and is in the “mind of the beholder.”

Each year I get an MRI of the brain as a follow up to my surgery. I had this done the other night. I scheduled it for the end of the evening so I could first get everything done for all the little and big people in my life.

It was 8pm and I was waiting in the MRI Lounge enjoying a good read in a national magazine when they called me in.  As usual, by this time of night, I was weary and drained from all that tending to five young children entails.  Nonetheless, the technician started to prep me about taking off my jewelery, removing all metal objects, how to breathe, how to stay motionless, composed, etc.; I knew the drill.  He was assessing my mental state to ensure that he wasn’t going have to sedate some frantic claustrophobic once shoved inside the tunnel for a solid hour.

I told him not to worry because I was planning on meditating and had been looking forward to this “Me Time” all day.  He sharply glared at me as though I were insane.  Who in their right time considers being exposed to an hour of earth-shattering hammering while being strapped down to a bed, head restrained in a helmet-like brace, inside a coffin, “ME TIME?”  I DO!!!!

The truth is that everything in life is relative to one’s own perceptions.  Beauty is not the only thing that is in the eyes of the beholder.  Evidently, solace and tranquility can be found in the oddest of places if you put yourself in the right state of mind.  You have to first WANT to RECEIVE it.

My life is so hectic and because I gravely lack personal time and privacy, I was anxiously anticipating the time I would have to myself, albeit in the inside of a rumbling, deafening, erratically moving MRI vessel.

Here I was with a great excuse to simply lie still like a cadaver, noise and all, with nothing more required from me than breathing.  How often does that happen?  I allowed the technician to ¨pamper me¨ by propping up my feet, putting a support under my lower back, and draping me with warm blankets.

I let my mind wander as I vividly imagined I was a resident of historical Beirut during one of the city’s many battles.  I actually fell asleep amidst the unbearably disturbing rhythm of this mammoth machine.  I pictured helicopters and missiles being fired down as I lay in my cozy, humble little bed, trying to wait out the enemy’s raid.  It worked and I got a solid hour of R and R!

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Written by Darah Zeledon. Mother of five, freelance writer, small business owner, and fitness freak, Darah has just returned to the US after living 9 years with her large brood in South America.  Through an angle of humor, Darah´s uniquely optimistic perspective of raising children in today’s unstable world has been strongly influenced by her experiences running a household and various businesses in several foreign lands.  You can read more of her here and here.