DETACHMENT:

One day, my son brought a gerbil
home to live with us. We put it in a
cage. Some time later, the gerbil
escaped. For the next six months, the
animal ran frightened and wild through
the house. So did we – chasing it.

"There it is. Get it!" we'd scream, each
time someone spotted the gerbil. I, or
my son, would throw down whatever
we were working on, race across the
house, and lunge at the animal hoping
to catch it.

I worried about it, even when we didn't
see it. "This isn't right," I'd think. "I
can't have a gerbil running loose in the
house. We've got to catch it. We've got
to do something."

A small animal, the size of a mouse
had the entire household in a tizzy.

One day, while sitting in the living
room, I watched the animal scurry
across the hallway. In a frenzy, I
started to lunge at it, as I usually did,
then I stopped myself.

No, I said. I'm all done. If that animal
wants to live in the nooks and crannies
of this house, I'm going to let it. I'm
done worrying about it. I'm done
chasing it. It's an irregular
circumstance, but that's just the way
it's going to have to be.

I let the gerbil run past without
reacting. I felt slightly uncomfortable
with my new reaction – not reacting –
but I stuck to it anyway.

I got more comfortable with my new
reaction – not reacting. Before long, I
became downright peaceful with the
situation. I had stopped fighting the
gerbil. One afternoon, only weeks
after I started practicing my new
attitude, the gerbil ran by me, as it had
so many times, and I barely glanced at
it. The animal stopped in its tracks,
turned around, and looked at me. I
started to lunge at it. It started to run
away. I relaxed.

"Fine," I said. "Do what you want."
And I meant it.

One hour later, the gerbil came and
stood by me, and waited. I gently
picked it up and placed it in its cage,
where it has lived happily ever since.
The moral of the story? Don't lunge
at the gerbil. He's already frightened,
and chasing him just scares him more
and makes us crazy.

Detachment works.

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