Monthly Archives: April 2014

Crash

A change in perspective, Something to think about, When my mind wanders, ,

for an audio version of this post,  click on the link below- if you are listening on a smartphone, you may have to scroll to the end of the post and look for the sound icon

Last week a woman was reportedly killed when she slammed into another car on the road. Authorities believe she was posting to Facebook how much she enjoyed the song “happy” at the time.

Yesterday I started to put a flash drive in my computer. It didn’t seem to want to go initially so I gave it a little extra push. It went in. And the screen went black. The computer would not turn on again.

This morning after I dropped my son off at school I was sitting at the entrance to my subdivision waiting to turn in, waiting for several cars to pass. The entrance is just after a blind curve. In the rearview mirror I saw a car coming around the curve very quickly fighting to slow down and avoid hitting me. Fortunately, I was awake and had a little extra room so I rolled forward a bit to give him more room. I noticed after he came to a stop he appeared to be picking things up from the floor board that had obviously fallen due to his abrupt stop.

Please don’t misconstrue that I think my two events are remotely comparable to the first tragedy. But the common link is that in the first two examples the intended plan not only failed, but it ended future plans in a flash (no pun intended regarding the computer). Fortunately for all, in the third case I was alert and present.

We all have in mind a strategy, a goal or a destination. We develop a path or a plan to get there and we can see it in varying degrees. We don’t normally work into the plan a provision for the crash, car or computer. But unfortunately, we often don’t take the time to be mindful in order to work in the provision for it not to happen.

What would have happened had the woman thought about the fact that she was driving and it was more important than letting her Facebook friends know about her musical preference?

What would have happened had I stopped and thought that it is not normal for Flash Drives to have such difficulty entering a USB port?

What would have happened if I had not been paying attention this morning at the entrance? Or if the other driver had been?

There is a saying “there is never enough time to do it right the first time, but there is plenty of time to do it over again and again.”

The art of Mindfulness is about slowing down, noticing the nuance of the ordinary both within and externally. It is a practice that must be cultivated to be effective. It is not only something one does, but something one is or becomes.

Is there anything you are neglecting or taking for granted simply because you are not aware? If you knew that your lack of awareness would cause it to change drastically for the worse, what would you do differently? Imagine playing the tape forward of the undesirable outcome. Then play it a second time in slow motion with a posture of mindfulness. You still have that opportunity.

Happy Easter

Something to think about, , , ,

Easter

What does it mean to you? Perhaps it is a time of great religious contemplation or absolutely nothing- When I was a kid I remember that my mother often bought each of us a solid chocolate rabbit.  She worked in restaurants and was able to purchase these from a wholesaler making them more affordable.  It would literally take us months to consume them and it often became a kind of game between my  brothers and me.  I’ve eaten my ears… My head is completely gone… and so the race to finish would carry on.

When my own children were small Easter looked like hiding plastic eggs around the yard or going to a Community Easter egg hunt.  The giant and imposing rabbit walking around usually scared my son’s,  and they were consoled only by the colorful plastic ovals filled with candy.

Whether or not you have a religious attachment to the day, Easter is still a day embedded with message of promise yet to come.  Whether it’s unwrapping a chocolate bunny, opening a surprise filled egg or the blossoming of redbuds and spring flowers, there is something of jubilance on the horizon.  Whatever is yet to bloom for you, I hope it is filled with joy, happiness and child-like wonder.

quiet time

A change in perspective, Something to think about,

for an audio version of this post, click on the link below- if you are listening on a smartphone, you may have to scroll to the end of the post and look for the sound icon

If someone asks you to think of your “happy place”, where would you pick?  For me, it is almost always running my hands through the silky curls atop my youngest son’s head.  And fortunately, he is still young enough that I get the chance to do this in real life, not just in my mind.  I think of it almost like a meditation.  And it goes something like this…

Look at him

He is so beautiful

This moment is so perfect

Wow, I’m here, being with him right now

No, don’t think about it, just do it

Its great

It’s great that I’m here just being

Wait, I’m thinking about it again, I’ve left being to thinking

Think about him, be with him

He is beautiful

I wish I could stay in the moment

And so it goes when I try any form of meditation.  I want to be “in the moment”- but I leave the moment to think about being in the moment.  Productive?  Yes and no.

I used to think meditation was the state of being absent of thought- just being still and void of thought and distraction.  But I have learned that’s not really how it works—at least not for me.  The real benefit I have learned from meditation is that it’s a place to practice bringing my mind back to the still and the quiet, if only for a second or two at a time.    But the act of bringing my mind back itself is a useful skill that I can apply at other times in my day when I get distracted from what I want to be doing.

I walk into a room looking for my keys.  I notice a glass on the counter.  I start towards the glass and hear myself say “not now- just look for the keys”.

I want to sit at my computer to write, and an email comes through catching my eye- “focus on your writing, the email can wait”.

I’m cooking baking and following a recipe and my kids come to tell me about something non-urgent-  I  stop and listen to them.  Oops- last week that resulted in my forgetting to put the eggs in to the muffin batter.  They didn’t turn out so well.  I wish I had used meditation.

There are a million distractions around us every single second. The choice to follow them… or not is up to us.  Carolyn Myss calls this the act of “calling your spirit home”.  Although we have a culturally prescribed proclivity towards doing several things at once, our brain can only process one at a time.  Forcing it to do more is not good for us.  The way to focus on a single track at a time is simply to practice. So pick your happy spot and visit often.