Waiting sucks. And I’m not very good at it.
But perhaps their are hidden opportunities in the waiting.
You can rail against the waiting. You can distract yourself.
Or you can sink into it; explore it; and embrace it.
You can experience it.
Because those moments that you wait are, in fact, the moments of your life.
And that next moment? It isn’t guaranteed.
All too often we get trapped by the stories we tell ourselves.
We get trapped by our “shoulds.”
I got trapped in a jungle; but I learned a few lessons there.
When you feel trapped, remember: you are the jailer; and you hold the key – the key to freedom and joy.
Tomorrow is promised to no one.
The time to live is now.
When we get busy, it’s easy to ignore the very things that keep us sane.
We tell ourselves stories like “there are more important things to attend to right now.”
We put aside our self-care; we put aside our practices; and put at risk the very things that matter most.
At the start of one especially busy day, Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.”
When times are especially challenging or intense, your self-care, your core practices will see you through.
You are your most important asset.
Protect your practices.
Moods are fleeting. They come and go.
If you allow your moods to dictate your actions, you’ll achieve precious few of your important goals.
Moods follow action.
Be in action.
I love technology. It allows us to do amazing things.
Yet the technology that is meant to serve us all too often enslaves us.
We’ve become inextricably dialed into the grid.
We’ve become addicted to the stimulation and outside input, checking and re-checking our smartphones and our tablets and our emails; responding incessantly to the phone calls and messages and notifications and alerts. Overwhelmed and inundated by the expectations and the deadlines and the demands, endeavoring to pay attention to everything and succeeding only at a continuous partial attention.
What would it be like to stop?
Be a drop out.
