how to be aware in an unaware world

Tag: intention

Worry
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”
– Wayne Gretzky
I found this quote in an investing and trading ebook. It was used in reference to a long-term approach in the stock market. The author’s guidance was to invest where the market will be, not where it has been.
It is also an equally great metaphor for life. The past is behind us, unable to be modified or relived, but the future is where possibility and opportunity lie.
(So I just realized this quote is much more about regret than worry, but I got carried away and reflected on worry instead, so I’ll post about regret next).
Reflection
Granted, the past provides much that can help us in the present (if we are aware of those past mistakes and learning opportunities).
Then there is the greatly significant difference between planning for the future and worrying about the future.
Worry may disguise itself as planning, but it couldn’t be any different.
Planning brings you back to the present after completion. Worrying leaves you in the future, contemplating endless possibilities.
Worry is an unfortunate side effect of the pursuit. Will it end up okay? Will I be successful? Will I be able to survive? Will they like me? And on and on.
It is actually a quite natural and albeit sometimes helpful emotion (when worried about a loved one, showing a deep connection and concern).
But I would argue that the majority of worry (like 90%) is really unhelpful and even destructive.
This is where mindfulness steps in and teaches us to step back from all kinds of thinking (worry or otherwise) and simply observe the present mind.
It takes a lot of practice (day after day for months) to truly realize the power of mindfulness throughout the day.
Meditation is not a practice with a completion, it is a transformation for a lifetime.
How does mindfulness help with worry in our ever-changing lives? I’m so glad you asked!
Worry enters the mind, say the worry about whether you will get a job or not in preparation for an interview, and you begin to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about that job.
Now, some of that worry is constructive (like the 10% when noticing the worry itself meaning you care a lot about the job and should take it seriously).
And the rest of that worry can be let go of: “Oh yeah, I’m worrying right now about this job way too much and I choose to let that worry go and move on to what I’m doing right now.”
Like I said, this sounds so easy on paper, but without devoted practice to noticing thought (worry) and letting it go, we cannot achieve this effect so easily, we will succumb to the thinking (worrying) and add a lot of unnecessary stress to our lives.
Encouragement
I encourage us to find the worries throughout the day today and simply begin to note them (in a tiny, cute notepad or on our bubbly, colorful notes app).
Literally. Jot down someplace all that worries you right now in your life, and again when you begin to worry in the future.
And when planning our complicated lives, look to the past for guidance, look to the present when we’ve got caught chasing the past or future, and look at the future for possibility and hope!
Thanks
Thank you again for worrying about me (lol just kidding, there is no need to worry about me!) But, thank you for your attention reading this post, it is a rare gift these days.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or share this post, let me know if you enjoy the posts. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you are inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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November 9, 2023
Faith
Faith is like a tree. It stands tall and weathers the storm because it is firmly grounded. Its roots reach deep and wide, its base thick and solid. It grows stronger as time passes and it reaches up, receiving warmth with open arms.
This was a little bit I came up with a while ago when living in Nashville. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was in a particularly reflective mood.
As I walked around the small apartment complex where I lived, I noticed a tree I so often overlooked, standing, beaming in the sunlight just outside the apartment and I went to sit there beneath it, witnessing this analogy to faith.
Reflection
A few years back, I did a purge of almost all my posts, pictures, and videos on Facebook so that I could start fresh with the intention of sharing only the content I valued.
In the process, I found reflections of my early faith in Christianity, for I grew up in a Christian household and was influenced greatly by the religion.
When I was younger, I had a naive sense of faith. Like a child, I was more willing to believe in something I didn’t fully understand. But somewhere in the naiveté, a feeling emerged. A feeling that surpasses all comprehension.
In essence, that is what faith is—an incomprehensible feeling.
Even now, I grasp that feeling from time to time, like a tree, feeling forces outside my understanding and comprehension supporting me.
I learned to question my faith and even the faith of my parents and those around me.
I found through that questioning that what I feel is what truly matters, and mindfulness gives me the awareness to recognize what I feel more and more.
I found that I aligned most with the core beliefs and philosophy of Buddhism, but also held on to the values instilled in a Christian household.
Mindfulness meditation and journaling instilled in me a compass that guides me when I am confused or unsteady and community-based fellowship and prayer instilled in me the faith needed to face any challenge this world throws at me.
I had to discover for myself that I do feel a sense of peace and contentment in believing I was created, that I was beautifully and wonderfully made.
Creator, Higher-Power, Yahweh, Father, whatever incredibly simple term we use to describe such a feeling as God, faith is the pillar to reaching it.
Faith requires a complete and utter surrender of self. It is letting go of logic and reason like meditation is letting go of thought and sensation.
Faith exists in the present too, I cannot be faithful towards a higher power or even another person in the past or the future, only here and now.
Encouragement
I encourage us to really question our beliefs, our perspective of faith, and what it means to us.
Ask yourself specifically what you believe or even if you believe in anything. It’s completely okay if you don’t know, this is simply a healthy thought experiment.
Write down those beliefs you hold firmly, those you would like to change, and those you would not support at all.
Thanks
Thank you deeply for your attention in reading this post, it is a rare gift these days.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or share this post, let me know if you enjoy the posts. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you are inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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November 4, 2023
Inaction
“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. So we must stretch ourselves to the very limits of human possibility. Anything less is a sin against both God and man.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
This is one of my favorite quotes of all time as I especially like to recite it when sometimes I’m told meditation is a lazy practice.
I also just realized I already wrote an entire blog post about it just a couple of weeks ago (Mindfulness & Action). But the message is a powerful one, and my thoughts are different.
Meditation is not about sitting and doing nothing, watching the world go by. It is about stepping back and observing the world before jumping in recklessly.
I like to best compare it to being both the player and the coach at a soccer or fútbol match.
Whereby we stand and sit on the sidelines watching and observing most of the game and jump in only when we feel most inclined to as well as stepping off to rest when needed.
I like to think of Messi, who as a forward or striker loves to walk around the midline or near the defenders, positioning himself strategically, while also sprinting as hard as he can to get the ball and score when presented with the opportunity.
There are so many opportunities out there to give it our all: Work, school, relationships, passions, creativity pursuits, etc. Meditation simply equips us with the clarity and composition needed to give it our all.
Reflection
Leonardo is elegantly comparing stagnant water to a lazy mind, even calling it a sin against God.
Sloth, is one of the seven deadly sins elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas when he writes in his first epistles that “to flee vice is the beginning of virtue and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.”
Leonardo was best known as a Renaissance Man or a man who wore many hats: a polymath, inventor, painter, sculptor, politician, writer, poet, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.
Although there is little account that Leonardo Da Vinci meditated or promoted meditation, it is safe to say he was mindful about all that he did and said, careful to articulate himself in an esteemed manner.
Times are much different today than in the late 16th century, but the danger of laziness and inaction is much the same.
We must step out of our discomfort and sloth-like attitude to achieve purpose and vigor. It’s quite logical, that the more we do what we love, the more we get out of life, quite literally.
But sometimes we have to do shit we don’t like to. Sometimes we have to get our hands dirty when we prefer them clean so that we can turn to what we enjoy most with a renewed, vigorous mind.
Encouragement
I encourage us today to do just one thing you find uncomfortable, whether it be a workout or a difficult conversation, and do it with the knowledge that it is stimulating the mind in wondrous ways.
Workout? I remember once, while living in Nashville, deciding quite randomly one day to bike to school each weekday, which was a 6-mile one-way ride, in late fall.
Maybe not the smartest timing, but hell I had just found this quote and was determined to take action, and I did. I rode 13 miles daily for about 3 months straight and felt incredible through it all.
Difficult Conversation? I remember needing to tell my best friend, co-workers, boss, friends, and family that I was selling 99% of my possessions and moving to Europe for a while.
Even though it was more of a sad message than a difficult one, those conversations were the catalyst for a much-needed shift in my life. They required nothing short of mindful action.
We are capable of so, so much, and sometimes all it takes is the right push from the right person or message to get us moving.
Thanks
Thank you deeply for all the kind feedback and encouragement ya’ll have given me these past few months as I’ve bombarded your inboxes.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or share this post. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you are inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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October 28, 2023