Messages come from all kinds of places and every day if we are in tune to listen for them. What kind of messages? What do I mean by “in tune”? When you are thinking too much about the past, caught up in past hurts or traumas, or if you are constantly dwelling in fear of what the future holds you can’t be present for what is really the only thing that matters. The moment you have right in front of you.
A lot of great authors such as Eckhart Tolle right about how The Power of Now and how to be Present. It’s really about mindfulness. It’s about being still, pausing, and being aware as you go through the day. What a really difficult thing to do! We are a society trained that if we aren’t being productive, we are failing at life! In truth, we are often causing more harm, more stress, and more complication in our lives when we are living with a mass productivity mindset. How much do you really need to accomplish, right now, and at this moment? What if the task at hand was your only priority, and you simply and with focus completed it with a mindful and present attitude?
These are the ideas I am experimenting with daily as I take a new look at my life in 2021. As I pause and go gently, I am listening, open, aware. Now, I am seeing things and hearing things I never did before. Like the message, I received from my friend Heather this morning. “Productivity isn’t always a positive,” she texted. Maybe, if you are doing it from a place of stress or anxiety, in a hurry, or aren’t being mindful when you are doing it. Tich Nhat Hanh says in Peace Is Every Step that even washing a dish can be a moment of meditation if we are present with that activity. Then that productive moment is truly a moment where we can relax and perhaps learn something, hear something or just be at peace.
Right now, I have an index card taped to my mirror in my closet. It says “Both?”. As humans, we have a tendency to judge everything as either one or the other. In most cases, good or bad. What if it’s neither? What if instead, we are able to view the thing objectively as an opportunity to learn its true value and say can it be not only one or the other but both? If you are being aware, productivity can be positive, but perhaps it can be something that works against you if you are living a less than mindful life.
As you go through your day today, may you take a moment to be present, and I hope you take time to pause and be gentle with yourself and others.
Hugs!
Christina
And even bigger HUGS when you check out the video. It’s a candid take on the above. Just me being real about my own journey. Check it out, and #FollowMe. More to come…
