Deer, Deer, Me!

I have a story to tell. Not a very long one, but interesting none the less. I am a runner of sorts. Five kilometers a few times per week. Always around the same path...down the road...down the next road...down the path beside the forest. Now realize, I have always been very afraid of the woods. Where we live, cougars and bears OH MY! So as I am on one of my weekly runs, I pause along the path, turning to look into the woods. It's kinda dark in there, isn't it? And kinda spooky too. I really think that spot over there is pretty, but...I see, about 100 feet in, this really beautiful spot that the sun is reaching. I notice several tall trees, very cathedral like. Very nice I think to myself and take a step to leave. And then, I hear the voice as clear as day. "Well are you coming or not." Now realize I'm relatively new to this voice in the head stuff. It still freaks me out a bit. So I kind of look around, laugh, shrug it off. No way, I say, I ain't goin in there. I take another step to leave. "Yes you are coming in. Get a move on!" No way, I say back and glare at the sky, I'm really mad at them for even suggesting such a thing. Go away you guys. Take a hike. Not in there!
And as you all know, when we listen and let go, we do as we are told. So here I am taking a step forward and a step back and forward and back like some kind of yoyo. Until finally I give up, stick out my chest, take a deep breath and very slowly and carefully make my way to the spot in the woods. My heart is pounding in my chest at this point, I'm scared, you understand, nervous. The voice says..."be calm, relax breathe...oh and by the way...have a seat." There in the middle of the tree cathedral is a large stone surrounded by thick moss. A chair just made for me. So I carefully sit... and I start to relax...and relax...and then I jump just a bit.. I see motion from the corner of my eye. I look over my shoulder and then, what to my wondering eyes should appear the most beutiful deer lying quitely in the woods only twenty feet away. She was just there..staring quiety through the trees at me. So of course, the tears start, I reach my hand out towards the deer, I thank my guides for the beautiful gift they have given me. But they were not done with me yet. Oh no. Quietly with little fan fare four more deer, moving very quietly, staring intently at me walk out of the woods, directly towards me, eating a bit of grass along the way. They came within ten feet of me, standing in front of me in an arc, watching me. For ten minutes they stayed and gazed at me as I reveled in their perfection. I watched them breath, watched them live. So much mystery, so much joy so much happiness filled my soul on that special day. I have returned several more times to the same spot and have occasionally crossed their paths. But amazingly, my fear of the woods is now gone. The magic of the universe lives within all of us.