Self-Esteem
Day Forty-One – March 29, 2010
Since I had moved into my RV space, I began noticing this wild-looking cat hanging around the trailer directly beside me. The cat would walk up to my truck and stare at me through the window at various times. Typically, cats didn’t bother me, but this cat was a bit spooky-looking.
The first thing I did in the morning was check the ten-day weather forecast for Austin and points east. I had to decide whether to stay in Austin for a few more days or set out for Louisiana. After checking the forecast, I gave Austin another day or two. Northern Louisiana needed to warm up a bit.
While working on my journal, my neighbor from across the street stopped by to see how I was doing. I hadn’t seen him since the first day he took me on the walking tour of the RV park.
He invited me over for a cup of coffee, which I politely declined since I didn’t drink. He then asked me if I wanted to go to the YMCA for a workout with him. I gladly accepted his offer, as I was in desperate need of good exercise.
We met at noon and walked across the river to the YMCA.
The young lady behind the counter gave me a free three-day pass, for which I was very grateful. The workout was just what I needed.
My neighbor remained at the gym, and I returned to my RV park. I called my Mexican friend to see what he was doing. He said he was finishing work and asked if he could stop by. “Of course!” I said.
He showed up in his jeep about thirty minutes later, and before I knew it, the two of us were headed out for a tour of Austin and the surrounding area. I grabbed the CD he had purchased for me, and we took off.
Twenty-five minutes into our drive, we arrived at Covert Park.
We hiked to the top of the park…
It looked out over the Colorado River Valley and downtown Austin. The temperature was 78 degrees, the humidity was very low, and there was not a cloud in the sky.
We continued our hike around the park…
We then headed out for a bite to eat. Our first stop was the Oasis on Lake Travis (http://www.oasis-austin.com/gallery). This place was terrific.
We decided, however, that the food was too expensive for our budget and moved on to the Iguana Grill.
We sat out on the deck overlooking Lake Travis and Arkansas Bend Park. It was happy hour, so we made the best of it and ordered several delicious appetizers, which were half-price. We watched sailboats sail by, witnessed an Osprey dive into the lake to retrieve a fish, and shared stories about our lives.
Silently, I thought to myself, here I am again, sharing my life with someone I barely know and having the time of my life. The view overlooking the lake was spectacular.
After dinner, we drove by my friend’s house to pick up his dog, Mancha, which means “Spot” in Spanish and then continued back to my RV park. (Mancha is also Jose’s last name. Jose was my friend in Denver whom I had dreamed about several nights before.)
Dogs offer the following medicine:
- Heals emotional wounds in humans
- Understanding of the duality of doubt and faith
- Companionship
- Unquestioned loyalty
- Love
- Knowledge of all things sensual
- Protection
- Ability to smell trouble from a distance.
- Copyright Animalspirits.com
These messages made perfect sense to me on several different levels. My new friend and Mancha dropped me off at my RV space and returned home. I logged onto my computer, downloaded my photographs from the day, and worked on my journal.
While absorbing the energy of the full moon…
I reflected on the day’s events and continued to work on my journal. I was sitting in my truck, entirely focused on what I was writing, when suddenly, the extension cord that I had run through my truck’s window moved very abruptly as if something was trying to yank it out of the window. It startled me. I looked out, and the cat from the morning had jumped up and decided to swing from it.
Cat offers the following medicine:
- Independence
- Seeing the unseen
- Protection
- Love
- Allows us to dream its dreams
- Assists in meditation
- Ability to fight when cornered
- Copyright Animalspirits.com
The cat ran beneath the trailer next door, and I returned to my journal. Before I went to bed that night, I scanned my daily meditation several times and thanked the cat for his assistance.