Coyote Universe

Coyote is a trickster whose tricks often leave us baffled and feeling victimized.  But, Coyote is also a teacher so his tricks can lead us into new insights, new ways of responding, new understanding of our selves and the world around us.

The circumstances that yesterday led me to feeling like Charlie Brown was a trick of the Universe.  Literally.  I was in the midst of a rather sensitive email exchange with an old friend when communication stopped.  

We had had issues such as this in the past, so I picked up the Charlie Brown metaphor and ran with it ... or perhaps it would be closer to the truth to say that I laid down and wallowed in the victimhoodness (!) of it.  Rather than pick up the phone and ask what was going on, I became a righteous victim.  I took it personally and that blocked my ability to act with clarity and intent.

It turns out that, due to a technical glitch, my emails were being sent but not received ... which was creating the same Charlie Brown feelings on the other end.  Fortunately, not understanding why the communication had stopped ... and after reading yesterday's blog post ... my friend reached out to ask what was going on.   We still haven't figured out how or why the emails dropped into a black hole when they had been working perfectly, but it almost caused a serious break in a friendship that is important to both of us.

After thinking about this for awhile, it reminds me to turn back once again to The Four Agreements:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word.
2. Don't Take Anything Personally.
3. Don't Make Assumptions.
4. Always Do Your Best.

I've always struggled with #2 but this incident makes me realize how much work I still have to do on #3.  The good thing that has come out of this is that we are both more confident in our friendship and have agreed to do a reality check before going "Charlie Brown" again.