It’s hard. I get it. There’s a ton swirling around. Alerts, buzzes, new emails, people who want something from you. It can feel like you’re just in a circus spinning plates and juggling knives. And change begins with just one small step. Anne Lammott writes about a friend who committed to just one moment of awareness each day of her new baby’s life. She knew there wouldn’t be time for meditation. She wouldn’t have energy or space. But she defined her own success as one small second - a moment sitting on the edge or the bed or the bath or while rocking the baby. Just a breath in and out. You can do it. We can do it. Slowly slowly.
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We live most of our lives on autopilot, in the past or future, missing now. (And this means we miss the good stuff - and we also miss the lessons we could learn from moments of pain.) Meditation is like strength training for being in the present.
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After a 30 day streak of daily meditation, this month reminded me that meditation may be one of the easiest and cheapest paths to mastering yourself and thus your life. After a month of meditating every day, I am calmer, slower, and happier. Who I am this month is much closer to the person I want to be. Who I am this month is much closer to the person I want people to remember at my funeral.
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Want to learn to manage stress, be kinder to yourself and others, and master your mind?
Meditation can help. Meditation may be one of the easiest and cheapest paths to mastering yourself and thus your life. But it’s hard to start a routine of meditation and even harder to persist in a regular practice.
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TL;DR: What if this glorious product of the human brain, the ability to communicate via symbols, is a double edged sword? What if language is a wonderful servant and a horrible master? Is there anything that language is not good for? Are there places where language gets in the way of fully engaging with the present moment, choosing effective action, and living the life we want?
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TL;DR Zen story to illustrate we categorize events as good or bad but life proves us wrong either way. I lost my voice and used the opportunity to hug a crisis. Sometimes this is when we are most alive. Here’s to the juicy middle space - here’s to stepping back from the frame of a nervous mind to take in all the details.
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TL;DR: We all struggle with self doubt, uncertainty, a hope for reassurance. Those questions have no answers and a million answers. 1. In times of doubt and confusion, find inspiration from the stories of your heroes and their struggles. 2. You don’t need to see the whole path, just the step in front of you. Take that one step. 3. Answer the why? Why would you do this hard thing?
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And bottom line, if my best friend thought her business was failing, if she thought she was useless and unskilled, I would just sit with her. I would listen. I would say, “This is hard…How can I help?....I love you, I’m cheering for you….Everyone in the whole world feels this way. You’re not alone, I feel this way, Ghandi felt this way when he was a miserable and ineffective lawyer! We’re in good company, love.” I *would not* problem solve out of the pain. I wouldn’t skip over it.
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