Hello,
My name is Catherine Cook-Goutone.
Today I'm going to tell you a story about how to know if you've found the right person for you.
This story is called the Ice Cream Story of Love.
Before I start,
Be sure you're seated in a comfortable position and feel well grounded and supported.
And then take a few deep breaths,
Allowing your mind to settle and open up into listening.
Open up to the inquiry,
The I wonder of the story.
This story begins with me telling you a little bit about what kind of ice cream I like.
I like a sugar cone for starters,
Not the regular cone,
Definitely a sugar cone.
And then I like two scoops of ice cream,
One scoop of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream,
And then the second scoop of maple walnut ice cream on top.
Sometimes,
And I'm not sure when one time and not the other,
I want the maple walnut on the bottom and the vanilla chocolate chip on top.
Either way,
This is my favorite and this is what I love.
And when that ice cream is good,
I completely appreciate it.
I'm not always sure exactly why it's good,
But I know when it's good.
And when it is,
It's one of the best experiences ever to eat that ice cream cone.
Now,
Sometimes when I go to the ice cream store to get an ice cream cone,
They'll offer me mint chocolate chip ice cream because they don't have any of the vanilla chocolate chip.
And that doesn't work because I don't know why,
But since I was little,
I have never really liked the taste of mint.
And so I just rather not have the chocolate chip ice cream.
And I say to them,
That's okay.
You can just give me maple walnut ice cream.
Go ahead and two scoops of that.
And this is where our story begins because what if mint chocolate chip ice cream,
The very mint chocolate chip ice cream I was offered was the finest in the entire world.
What if that mint chocolate chip ice cream was made of milk,
Made of cream that was from the finest cows in the land and they were fed only the top level organic grass and the cows got massages every day,
So they experienced absolutely no stress and beautiful music was played in the barn and they were able to walk freely wherever they wanted in and out to the pasture to graze and back in the barn.
And what if the cream for this mint chocolate chip ice cream was filled with all of the loving kindness that these cows were raised with and the mint was just like the cream,
The finest in the world.
And whenever people watered these mint plants,
They meditated the loving kindness meditation over the whole field and they used pure water from the purest springs and the most amazing soil to grow the mint in.
And then the chocolate for this mint chocolate chip ice cream was from Switzerland or somewhere where it was the finest chocolate you could buy.
This kind of chocolate,
The kind of chocolate that when you ate it you might cry because it's so amazing.
And that this mint chocolate chip ice cream was offered to me and maybe given that description I would try it,
But honestly I still wouldn't be able to appreciate it.
I wouldn't be able to see it for all of its beauty simply because of,
I don't know,
Some biological preference that I have no control over.
Now if you handed me an ice cream cone with maple walnut ice cream from the finest maple trees and walnuts were harvested were the best in the land and maybe even got to have that same milk from those same cows,
I would get that and I would appreciate it and I would be the perfect fit for that ice cream cone.
It would be what I was seeking and what that ice cream simply was just as it is.
And so I think about it.
I think about the times when maybe we thought we were in love and I think about people that maybe couldn't see me because I wasn't exactly their mint chocolate chip ice cream or their maple walnut or their butter cream and really what would make them happy.
And even if they could get it that I was pretty cool and they could get that I was pretty cool for exactly as I was,
Maybe the finest in the land made from the finest ingredients and there was absolutely nothing wrong,
It just wasn't the right match of my perfectly wonderful self and what they could see and appreciate fully.
And rather than push something that's not fitting and trying to make someone see how really amazing we are that we wait until somebody comes along that gets it and was looking for exactly what we are all along and takes one look,
Has a conversation,
Sees all that we're about and says,
Oh my gosh,
This,
This,
This being is amazing.
You don't have to talk me into it.
This is exactly what I've been looking for.
And so rather than thinking that if somebody doesn't get us,
That there's something that we should fix or change or maybe that we're not enough,
Not good enough,
No,
You are the finest you in the land and you just wait for somebody who gets that.
And that is the end of the ice cream theory of love story.
And take a few breaths here.
Allow this beautiful ice creamy story to settle.
You might want to take a few moments breathing,
Considering what the story means to you,
For you.
You may even want to journal about the story.
For now,
Thank yourself for taking a few moments to listen and wonder.
And I thank you so much for listening.
