I made it to post number two, guys. And in a week’s timeframe! Now, to be honest, it is an edited repost, but still, consistency is key, as they say. So even if I go out into a forest with no computer for ten days, I can still make and schedule a new post each week.
This post, as many, started off as a few thoughts made after reading a popular quote. If you couldn’t tell, I love quotes that make you think so deeply you can write a whole blog post on them. At the end of each post, I include Three More Things relating to either the post or the author of the quote.
Lastly, I have added an audio version of this post and of the last post I made: Getting Some Headspace. Check it out and let me know by responding via email. Let me know what I’m doing right, wrong, or what I can add. Also, guided meditations are on their way! Thanks for reading as always, hope you like this one!
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
– Henry Ford
While pondering the future, I asked myself the ever-evolving and hard-to-answer question, “What is my dream?”
As in, what do I dream to become one day in the future? A doctor? A lawyer? An astronaut? You know, the usual ones.
At the time, I had no answer.
Then about five years later I found it (but I’ll get to it at the end)!
This question came to mind when listening to an old, but super unique podcast episode on Spotify called Wake Up / Wind Down.
The host of the podcast, Niall Breslin, with his deep Irish accent and mellow voice, sprinkles bits of wisdom twice a day, after waking up to start his day and before winding down to end it.
I can just hear that soft voice during a daily wind-down now:
“Use the senses to deepen your meditation: the smells, the sounds, the feeling of the muscles relaxing and settling in the body.”
“Allow the mind and body to rest. To prepare for a new day tomorrow.”
Taking on a project to not just have a twice-daily meditation practice, but to record and publish it each and every day is inspiring. Think about the amount of obstacles you must move past to keep it up!
I have mad respect for Niall, to put his practice, wisdom, and classic Irish humor out there for millions to see and hear.
In his own words, it was his way of keeping himself accountable to a daily meditation and reflection practice.
Distraction, depression, worry, and anxiety were his obstacles to realizing his dream.
Having kept his ambitious goal for over two years, recording most of the short episodes from his bedroom, Niall worked towards his goal of owning his own recording studio one day.
And now he does, recording all kinds of projects and continuing his podcast journey with the Where’s the Mind Podcast.
Personally, I have held a tight morning meditation practice for the past eight years as well as the occasional evening meditation, often tuning into a Wind Down episode to settle into a good night’s rest.
My obstacles were pretty much the same: restlessness, tiredness, contemplation, and rumination.
I discovered one night during meditation, right before midnight, that the many obstacles, both in and out of the mind, had not stopped me from achieving my goal that day.
I had discovered a thing that was so captivating and so helpful, that I had wanted to return to it no matter what.
Meditation was its own reward. The calm veil that passed over me was worth making the time to sit down and meditate.
We must desire to identify with a habit or else it won’t become one.
After years of work, I can identify now as a meditator, an athlete, and a writer because I meditate, work out, and write each day.
But they did not come without obstacles: too tired, not enough time, too much to do, don’t have the right space, etc.
Those obstacles were no different than a storyline, created in my mind and fueled by more thinking, pulling me away from my dream.
So, searching within for my dream, I found a place that kept beckoning me to return.
A place that is filled with wonder, awe, and inspiration.
A place that, between pages bound by glue and heat, changed the way I saw the world.
A place that I found possible to create ever since I was given a journal by a mentor of mine years ago.
That mentor said, “Take these blank pages and fill them with your very soul.”
My dream is to become a published writer, to express myself in one of the oldest mediums in the world: words.
My dream has not changed, but it has evolved, knowing that making something natural, like writing, takes immense time and energy.
Looking back, there have been many obstacles to this goal, and there still are many today, but I am continually realizing this dream with every word I write.
Listening to Niall realize his dream of becoming a podcaster simply by recording his voice assured me that all the hard work doesn’t just pay off “one day” but rather, it pays off every day!
In reality, what cultivates over days, weeks, months, and years is what creates a “day.” Getting a book published, a record made, or a chiseled body. A “day” that you realize you’ve made it.
And on that day, the real work begins. On that day, the obstacles are a lot less frightful.
If you made it to the end, thank you so much for reading my every changing ruminations on how to be aware in an unaware world using mindfulness techniques. As always and if inclined, you can support me by buying me a coffee. Thank you in advance!
Three More Things:
- Read – The Life of Henry Ford
- Listen – Henry Ford: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
- Watch – 1,000 Ants vs. Obstacles
Leave a comment!