We all have those days when we feel shortchanged in some area of life. There are days when we wish we had a more generous cash flow; days when we wish we could replace the reflection in the mirror with the self-image that we seek; days when we crave the kind of love that feels like the embrace of a breeze that flows just beneath a summer sunset.
If you are sitting at a computer, reading these words, consider:
You are richer than almost everyone else in the world.
You have the time to afford leisure, to take leave from your work to read a blog. You have the wealth to afford internet communication. You have the freedom to read and write what you want. You have a stomach full enough to focus on these words.
Maybe there are things we wish that we could change. Maybe there are things we don't need to. Maybe there are things we can.
Showing posts with label inexplicably random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inexplicably random. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Friday, August 7, 2009
Heart is where the home is
Another summer come and (nearly) gone and another move across time zones and mind zones, and back again.
This summer, it's not so much what I did, as what I took from what I did that has been memorable. I worked as a policy officer, took university courses, played/coached/trained field hockey and also married Manski.
But one of my biggest objectives has come to fruition not through action, but rather, through learning to let go of action and the need to be constantly acting. I've always explored my identity through praxis-based approaches (that is, Jaya the doing) and now, at long last, I am learning and loving myself through acts as simple as breathing (that is, Jaya the being).
Who I am depends less and less on what I do. This does not affect my yearning for new adventures, meaning in my commitments or my drive for improvement, but it does open up a whole world of encouragement, self-care, self-awareness, belief, and even forgiveness (when necessary).
So how about a radical departure from productivity as a metric for success, and a movement toward seeing the day as a series of things TO BE, rather than TO DO. I know that some will argue that the latter informs the former (and vice versa)and I respect that line of reasoning, but what if we could dare to step away from needing to do, and just for a moment (indeed, a day is just that - a series of moments) realize that to inhale nad exhale with awareness is a moment well spent.
A little time chez Mother Naure never fails to remind that we are just atoms in this huge universe, and yet that we too can ascend to where the stars may be, if we can but dream to let go for a moment and just float...
Just be careful on the way down. Whooooooooa!
This summer, it's not so much what I did, as what I took from what I did that has been memorable. I worked as a policy officer, took university courses, played/coached/trained field hockey and also married Manski.
But one of my biggest objectives has come to fruition not through action, but rather, through learning to let go of action and the need to be constantly acting. I've always explored my identity through praxis-based approaches (that is, Jaya the doing) and now, at long last, I am learning and loving myself through acts as simple as breathing (that is, Jaya the being).
Who I am depends less and less on what I do. This does not affect my yearning for new adventures, meaning in my commitments or my drive for improvement, but it does open up a whole world of encouragement, self-care, self-awareness, belief, and even forgiveness (when necessary).
So how about a radical departure from productivity as a metric for success, and a movement toward seeing the day as a series of things TO BE, rather than TO DO. I know that some will argue that the latter informs the former (and vice versa)and I respect that line of reasoning, but what if we could dare to step away from needing to do, and just for a moment (indeed, a day is just that - a series of moments) realize that to inhale nad exhale with awareness is a moment well spent.
A little time chez Mother Naure never fails to remind that we are just atoms in this huge universe, and yet that we too can ascend to where the stars may be, if we can but dream to let go for a moment and just float...
Just be careful on the way down. Whooooooooa!
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