As I sat in my practice of gratitude and positive intentions, alignment with the Universe … blah, blah, blah … I was feeling very good and perhaps a little proud of myself.  I’m learning, practicing and inventing technology that works and I have traveled far on the road to Mastery.

Then I felt something crawl on the back of my neck, and as I reached my hand to dust whatever it was off, I felt the sharp, intense, electrifying and mind-focusing pain of an insect sting. And this guy was skilled in the arts of Applied Pain.

I jumped out of my chair and tore my shirt off to make sure it hadn’t got down my back to cause more damage, but there was no need.  My Ninja insect had already flown off, leaving me with an intense afterburn on the back of my neck that I was sure would turn into a nasty bump.

There was an unnecessary show of force from the Universe I thought, and then I wondered what was that for?  Made me think of a child being slapped on the bum by a parent for doing something that could have serious, or even dangerous consequences unbeknownst to the child.  I couldn’t help but feel that this analogy applied.  Like the kid I was really clear that somebody that loves me just gave me a warning but about what?

What was the message?  Was it bad things happen to good people?  That’s a downer, and why?  Now I’m really being the little kid.

Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

I believe the Universe was giving me a clear reminder that there is no formula, or quick fix and that even with all of the peace, knowledge and power from getting who we really are in this life, we will still have our share of rain.  The Dalai Lama has China’s intransigence over Tibet, the Pope has all the suffering of the world and a shrinking flock, Martin Luther King had racism and did not live to see his dream fulfilled, Moses never made it to the promised land, and John Travolta just lost his son.   The list goes on.

Perhaps the Universe was reminding me that we are here to experience it all, and that the power of control and certainty is not meant for the human experience.  No one has control of their lives or how things work out.  Not even those few people that have all of the trappings of power.  Ask George W. Bush or Bill Clinton.

We can give direction to our lives and we can live in inner peace but we will die and some of us will die horrible deaths.   A good friend of mine lost his wife a few months ago to cancer.  She was one of the most positive, upbeat, self-expressed good people I knew and I’m not signing up for the way she checked out.

There is no religion, philosophy, or practice that can guarantee great circumstances all of the time.  Maybe the only thing that you can “control” in this life is your inner circumstance, how you are in spite of everything else that is going on around you.

So perhaps that was the message.  I don’t know for sure, and of course it’s my choice to make that insect be a messenger.   It’s also my choice to make that bite mean whatever I make it mean.  I have traveled far enough to get that.