CENTER POINT THE CENTER FOR SELF-CHANGE NEWSLETTER
Vol. 2, No. 5- MAY, 2008
In January 2007, our two e-pubs, Info Notes and Quick Tips were combined into enter Point. This month's issue is a reprise of the Feb. 2005 Info Notes. It seems timely to reprint it now because lately so many of my counseling clients have mentioned deep concerns regarding the need to make important decisions regarding gas prices, mortgage issues, household budgeting, the economy in general, and upcoming political options.
WHAT THE COUGAR'S TAIL CAN TELL US
J. Kingston Cowart "The Change Maker"
As a cougar follows his prey, he stops when the prey stops; lies down when it does; and moves when it moves again.
He can be very patient about all of this - except for his tail.
It often curls one way and then the other, thrashing from side to side while he waits, leaving "tell-tail" marks on the ground.
Thrash-thrash. Thrash-thrash. Back and forth. Side to side. It looks just like the "couch cougar" (kitty cat) you may have at home.
At some point, however, the cougar has to make a decision: either to attack or give up the hunt. And then he leaves a very different mark on the ground.
Whichever choice he makes, once he has made it, he straightens his tail and slaps it down hard on the ground - right at the center line between his thrash marks. And at that very instant the cougar springs into immediate action.
What might this image from nature tell us about our own decision making?
Well, we might speculate that, having "considered both sides" of his situation, the cougar always chooses the middle ground and so should we. After all, there is a great deal of philosophical wisdom behind choosing what is called the Middle Way or the Golden Mean - the path between two extremes.
The problem with that idea is that it can too easily turn into compromise for the sake of compromise - a habitual attitude of indecisive fence-straddling. The wisdom of the Golden Mean must always be embodied in a timely way. Trying to be moderate at the wrong time will lead us not to the middle but to a muddle instead.
And that's not what the cougar's tail tells us here anyway.
It's not about the middle - but the center.
Or more specifically, not the middle path but the center point.
The cougar has made a choice to attack or go home. Either way he now has to make a decisive move that settles the matter.
His tail comes down in the center because that's where his balance point is. (And who knows more about balance than a cat?)
It is true, of course, that whenever we have an important choice to make we should (if it is timely) consider both sides and (if it is timely) we will do well to follow the middle way - although there are times when we have to take an instant (and intuitive) stand on one side or the other.
Nonetheless, the most important thing is that right action always comes from our own center - that inner place where all of our physical, moral, psychological, and spiritual energies reside together in balance and harmony.
We know that makes sense because it's when we're most out of balance that we make our worst mistakes.
So I think this is what the cougar's tail can tell us:
Once we make a choice, we should get ourselves truly centered and balanced - and then take immediate, decisive action.
That will always give us the best chance for success in anything we do.
J. Kingston Cowart
JOIN THE CENTER CIRCLE
It's easy. Every Wednesday for a few minutes between 10:00 and Noon sit down and turn inward - through prayer, meditation, self-hypnosis or any modality you choose - and send out good thoughts to everyone else in the circle.
I'll be there. How about you?
J. Kingston Cowart www.self-change.com 619.561.9012 Post Office Box 19005 San Diego CA 92159
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