Mindfulness

I love mindfulness as a practice. Not so much to think of it as a discipline, but to take advantage of the richness and color it infuses my life with. If we're not aware of it, we can spend most of our lives without being fully present in our moments, letting the mind take over with its endless stream of stuff. When I pay attention to my thoughts, I realize how many of them have nothing to do with anything bearing on the present moment. When I allow that to happen (which is most of the time), I feel I'm only partially having my life, because so much of it slips by unnoticed.

I went out at lunchtime today and walked to Barnes and Noble. It was no big deal, maybe a five minute walk, and I was caught up in whatever random thoughts were sliding by. I knew where I was going and what I was going to do when I got there. There wasn't anything else that needed my attention in those five minutes. Whatever I was thinking about during my walk I could have thought about later and it would not have made any difference. But there I was, walking without really noticing I was walking, and thinking.

I chose to be mindful in that moment (thank you, God, again, for my remembering), and brought all of my attention to the present. In that instant I was where I was. I was aware of lots of cold grey around me, the wet fog, the cement of the sidewalks, the parking lot, and thought briefly that maybe it wasn't so important to be really present for this particular walk. Certainly I could conjure up something alot more pleasant in my mind. But I knew that wasn't true, as I noticed the slight resistance my body felt being surrounded by that damp blanket of fog and the lifeless scenery. If I had not chosen to be mindful, I would not have been aware of feeling heavy and sluggish in response. It's not at all like being in nature, which my body responds to by feeling incredibly light. It was much more subtle, and delightful because of how much I noticed it, I - am - walking - on - pavement.


That simple state of just being turned a very unimportant moment into one of beauty and grace. It was a gift that I brought back to work and enjoyed throughout the afternoon.


Here's to having our moments!


May this tool be a blessing. . .

Walking the Labyrinth

My husband, Mike, my son, Eric, and I walked a labyrinth on New Year's Eve, as we've done for the past few years. Bless Eric, that he was willing to get up early and drive for an hour to do it, because it was important to his parents.

I love walking into that circle and having the strong awareness of myself as eternal spirit, at the very same time I hear the traffic going by, see workmen moving around and the cracks in the sidewalk, all of the countless small details of inhabiting a body. I love knowing myself as eternal spirit as my path passes by Mike's or Eric's on the labyrinth and I am aware of sharing space with them for a moment, then moving on on our own paths, but each of us always contained by that bigger circle which contains all perfect paths.

While walking the labyrinth, no matter what direction I'm heading or how many twists and turns I take along the way, I'm always moving toward the center, where I know in the center of myself, in my heart, that I am God in expression. In the middle of all of the twists and turns of the labyrinth, the center stands.

Each experience I've had in the labyrinth has been different. I've been guided each time to remember just what was important for me at that time. This last time, I was reminded that All Is Well. In the middle of all of the big issues facing humanity in general and all of us individually, I can be glad for all of it because there is a mighty purpose behind it. All paths lead to an awareness of ourselves as God, without exception.

I remembered that pain is part of the dichotomy that we live in, and aids us in knowing joy. We can never really grasp and own for ourselves one side of a dichotomy until we have fully known the other.

Best of all, for me, was remembering yet again that there is nothing I need to do, no burden I need to carry to fix things. We are all the light of God. We can be nothing else. Everything we experience is contained by and part of that light of God, just like the circle of the labyrinth contains all paths leading to our knowledge of ourselves as God, and light.

What that means for me practically, in this new year, is that I don't have to suffer over what is. What is, is, and it serves a mighty purpose, one that I can trust. It's not easy to see the light in the middle of the darkness, but this year I choose to look for the good in all of it. I am grateful for the light that contains it all.

(In case you're interested, Mike read a book on labyrinths recently. It's called "Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool." I haven't read it yet, but he liked it alot.)

Here's to the light!

Today I will act as if. . .

I went to bed last night feeling very grateful for remembering a tool I hadn't used in a long time. The wonderful gift of it was that it allowed me to consciously create my day. A few years ago I read a book called The Creative Life by Eric Butterworth with a Unity book study group. One of the exercises in that book is "Today I will act as if. . ."
I've been off work for two weeks for the holidays, and went back yesterday. When I woke up at 5:00am to to do some writing and get to work by 7:30am, I was already starting to feel pushed and lacking enough time to do all of the things I want to do. During vacation, I really enjoyed all of the extra time I had, and was starting to feel stressed about how will I fit in all of the things I want to do every day: meditate, write, exercise, cook a simple, healthy dinner, spend time with my husband. It's never easy to balance all of it on top of working all day, for most people. I was starting to feel pretty out-of-sorts about it.
Thankfully, I remembered that I create my reality not by what is happening to me, but by how I am thinking about it. The limits exist only in my thinking. And what I believe dictates how my experience will unfold.
So I wrote in my journal "Today I will act as if I have all of the time and money I need to do all of the things that bring me joy." Just that. I am always awed by how consistently and perfectly conscious choice manifests in my life. Remembering to choose consciously is a prayer, and always answered when asked as all prayers are. The important part is being aware of what our thoughts are praying for. I love the saying that "worry is praying for something you don't want." And as the Buddha said, "As the fletcher whittles and makes straight his arrows, so the master directs his straying thoughts."
Yesterday, I denied the limits of my own making, and chose instead abundant time and resources and joy, by choosing to "act as if." And I watched with gratitude as my day unfolded, catching up with two weeks' worth of referrals, emails and phone calls with ease, doing one thing at a time in perfect order, enjoying the contribution I make in my little corner of the world. And I had time, at lunch, to do my meditation, and after work to write, and walk with my dear husband and share the day, and a simple, healthy dinner.
I acted as if I had all of the time and money I need to do all of the things that bring me joy, and it was so.
So I'll close now and decide on a tool to help me remember, today. . .