My Meditation Flop

 

When your best intentions for a mindful practice go awry, choose to surrender, accept, and move on

The morning I wrote this post for my Huffington Post blog, I put a clear intention forward that I was going to take all the “necessary” steps to start my day off spectacularly…which translates to including the following: personal writing time, meditation, green juice of some sort and a run (not necessarily in that specific order). It all began well until my meditation got hijacked and almost toppled the whole kit and caboodle. Sometimes one wrong turn disrupts the rest of the day and like a house of cards it all comes tumbling down – perfect intention derailed.It all started out well as I sat in my meditation corner, lit a candle – as beautiful autumn light streamed through the windows, eyes closed, positioned comfortably, took a deep breath — inhaled, exhaled and…BOOM! The dog started wagging her tail against a piece of furniture – thump, thump, thump. The birds outside started chirping so loudly it sounded as if someone had let them loose within the room. The resident teenager awoke and was headed my way as I heard his footsteps on the stairs approaching. Worse yet – my monkey mind was bouncing off the walls…blah, blah, blah. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. This meditation was a complete and utter failure, or so I thought, until I allowed the big smile I was suppressing to emerge (because you are supposed to be so solemn as you meditate, right?) and just burst into laughter.Yes, this meditation that I had envisioned, by all intents and purposes was a clunker. However, when I opened my eyes and looked around – I was surrounded by many of the things that make my heart all aflutter – the dog that walks me in the woods every day keeping me grounded and communing with nature, the young man I gave birth to 15 years ago who expanded my heart beyond what I thought capable, the life partner who came into my world when everything felt broken and helped me become a better version of me, and this funky old farmhouse that became the sanctuary of healing where we put it all back together again and nurtured our creative souls. Nope, there was no fail here. Perhaps my meditation that morning was simply intended to be a reminder of what already was – to be here in the present moment and to convene with the is.It got me thinking about how easily we get hijacked in all areas of our lives. What do you do when you take a step off the path in a direction you hadn’t intended? Do you throw in the towel or do you simply decide to choose again?Here are some areas where we are easily hijacked:THOUGHTSIf you REALLY believed that your thoughts became things, and were the attractors and manifestations in your life – would you think different thoughts?Do your words and conversations with others empower you or make you feel ashamed? This is where gossip and unkind thoughts saunter in. How do you re-route those suckers?• Edit your thoughts, words and actions before they take flight. I’m not encouraging you to dismiss your feelings, but rather to tap into your best self as you express them.SELF-CAREDoes one missed day of exercise, or your self-care regimen, turn into a silent-but-deadly trickle-down in the wrong direction? Sometimes when I skip a run or pilates class, I end up skipping several more – finding some illogical excuse in my head to support it.• It’s like riding a bike, you just have to get back on. No punishment, simply move forward. You know what makes you feel good – do more of that! DIETIf you fall off a diet protocol or deviate from eating or drinking the things you usually do, do you completely throw in the towel and jump on the bad behavior bandwagon?• No one needs to tell you what works for you, your body has it’s own voice. Tune in to that station and listen.MONEYDo you overspend? Are you a brat with your money? Do you want what you want, when you want it?• Find a financial balance – save some, play with some. When you choose to not buy something, don’t view it as deprivation but rather as taking care of yourself. How we view our choices is a powerful tool.From the moment we awake, we face choices and things may not necessarily go according to plan. Just keep in mind that all the choices, even the “bad” ones have hidden agendas conspiring on your behalf. Ease up on yourself and enjoy the ride. If you don’t like what you chose today, choose differently tomorrow. Reboot isn’t just for computers.

You are doomed to make choices. This is life’s greatest paradox.

~Wayne Dyer