"To Do List" "Shopping List" "Bucket List" lists, lists, lists. Have to do this today, this tonight, this tomorrow, this next week. Answer the phone, check email, twitter, facebook, run here, do this, don't forget about . . ., did I remember to do, what if I forget . . . . . . This is our contemporary version of what the Buddha called 'muddled mindfulness'. It's a mindfulness that has no focus, no relief, and no direction.
It is a muddle of anticipation, vigilance, anxiety, and fear. Where is the peace and calm in it?
On and on it goes. The mind spins and spins and takes the body with it. After awhile it all starts to fall apart. When do we stop? Really STOP. Take some time to let it all go just for a little while. Isn't that what we do with a child when they rev up and spin wildly? Don't we get them sit down tell them to be quiet and settle down? Yet, as adults we don't do that. Instead, we give all the mundane things a false priority. Resolve, just for one day, to take 10 minutes and truly stop. Stop everything. Let nothing get in the way of stopping. Just follow your breath and nothing else. Observe just how much "stuff" tries to get in the way.
If we don't learn how to stop we never quite get the hang of go.
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