The Cup of Tea

I just heard a receptionist talking about how she reached for a comforting cup of hot tea and she burned her mouth, which kept me thinking....

How many times we do search for comfort in the right things, either be a cup of tea, a conversation with a friend, a prayer, a medicine or a yoga class, to only realize we have being "burnt", exhausted, beaten up or left feeling empty and discouraged. The problem is not the item that was supposed to offer comfort. Most of the times the problem is our timing, sometimes it is the dosage. But swearing not to have a glass of wine ever again because having four the night before made us feel terrible, or ceasing to pray because our prayer has not been answered yet, does not make us stronger or wiser—but blinder. 

I will still take my cup of hot tea—with patience. I will still be burnt from time to time. I will keep returning to it not as an act of rebellion, but as a reminder that even the things that hurt, sometimes, will be the things that will eventually heal us.

Originally written 3/1/2017