However calm or wise I feel,
however full of love during the day,
at night my dreams reveal another story,
acting out the anger and frustration
that accompanies the minor slights,
the tiny imperfections
in an otherwise perfect life.
How can I delude myself
that meditation's made me
this kind and grateful person;
non-attachment, acceptance,
and surrender
the order of my day;
compassion, love and gratitude
welling up from within my heart,
when in my dreams I'm snarling
at someone who makes me late
and gritting my teeth
to see another's accolades
from those who never seem to notice
who I am;
what I've achieved?
But perhaps that is the purpose of our dreams:
to keep us humble, while allowing us
to explore and express ego's resentments;
to remind us we are human, after all,
and not immune to the very weaknesses
that we abhor in others.
perhaps our dreams help us to love
even more broadly,
and forgive
even more gently
as we learn
we're not impervious
to life's selfish temptations...
