The saltiness of life

Dr. Jeanne Robertson​, PhD, LPC, LMFT

Dr. Jeanne is the Director of St. Paul's Center for Counseling & Education. Learn more about the Center here. ​

​An aging abbott got tired of his novice complaining, so one morning he sent him for some salt. When he returned, the abbott told the unhappy novice to put a handful of salt in a glass of water, then drink it.

“How does it taste?” asked the abbott.

“Bitter,” spit the novice.

The abbott smiled and asked the young man to put an equal handful of salt into the lake. Once he had swirled it in the water the abbott told him to drink.

As the water dripped from the novice’s chin, the abbott asked how it tasted.

“Much fresher,” replied the novice.

“Do you taste the salt?”

“No,” said the young man.

The old abbott looked at the young novice who reminded him of himself and gently said, “The pain of life is pure salt, no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”                           (Adapted from 101 Zen Stories www.sciforums.com).
 
Bitterness or anger - at physical, emotional, spiritual pain - can hold us hostage. Are you holding things in that need to be let out? Do you lack the room or tools to move them?

Can you enlarge your container to enable you to stop being a glass and become a lake?

Give me a call, we can work together to expand your container!
 
Dr. Jeanne

​If you need support of any kind, reach out to Dr. Jeanne and the Center for Counseling & Education. "The mission of the Center for Counseling and Education is to serve the individuals, families, faculty, and staff of St. Paul's Episcopal Church & School in a nurturing spiritual environment. Through counseling and educational services, the Center seeks to promote and enhance the well-being of individuals and families within a confidential environment of compassionate listening. The Center is interfaith, serving people wherever they may be on their journey in life."