Tag: meditation

Reliable narrator

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Most of our time is spent thinking about what was, what could have been, what will be.

As our days go by, we are rarely in the moment. Doing. Feeling. Breathing. This increases our sense of dissatisfaction and incompleteness. Bit after bit, we grow more unhappy.

Meditation is not a practice to become better or more satisfied. It is a training in the habit of being here and now, of appreciating what is going on around us and within us, of being in charge of our attention and focus.

It’s the only way to be reliable narrators of our own story.

60 seconds

FabrizioLeave a comment

What would happen if we could wait?

Before judging our neighbor who is still up at 4am. Before shouting at our kids who are trying to figure out something complex. Before sharing the advice nobody has asked for. Before answering to the instant message of somebody who is dealing with their own challenges. Before going on a rant about something we have misread in a conversation. Before clicking the comment box to leave some vitriolic words for somebody who does not share our worldview. Before beating ourselves up for not achieving what we so desperately wanted. Before rage quitting the place we have invested so much into. Before following that shiny little object that is going to take away from our lives.

If only we could wait 60 seconds, what would happen instead?

The same

FabrizioLeave a comment

We are stuck in patterns.

We do the same things over and over again. React to the same things in the same way. Behave the same way with the very same person. Think the same thoughts, feel the same feelings, fall into the same narratives.

We do this until it becomes our reality, who we are, what we breath. And it is often self-destructive.

If only we could take a step back, point the finger at the pattern, and laugh.

When feeling down

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When you are having a tough period, double down on your practices.

Whether it’s meditation, writing, running, working, helping, or any other. Being consistent with what makes you feel good, with what gives you a sense of accomplishment, is even more important when there’s something that deeply troubles or bothers you.

And by the way, the best moment to start a practice is today.

Looking inside

Fabrizio1 Comment

When you start looking inside, it’s possible that you won’t like what you find.

It’s a mixture of feelings, thoughts, ideas, memories, plans. Some land close to the picture of ourselves we have created culturally and relationally, some land quite far away. And that’s ok.

Looking inside, though, gives you quite a different perspective on the outside as well. When you begin to appreciate that deep down you are that insane and chaotic mixture, the good and the bad, the expected and the unexpected, the acceptable and the unacceptable, you realize that people around you are just the same. Their intentions are mixed, their feelings are mixed, their thoughts are mixed. They change trajectory within the same breath, they are insecure, scared, unprepared, variegated. Just like you are.

And so, what to do?

Most of us, spend their days fighting this, suppressing and denying what they do not recognize and cannot appreciate. Eventually, they bring the battle outside, because it’s easier to see the fault in others and pursue it relentlessly rather then acknowledging it in each one of us and make peace with it.

Few simply let go. They stop clinging, they stop holding on, they stop wanting to change, themselves and the others, they accept things for what they are, they navigate life to the best of their current possibility, making the most of each situation, realizing that it might not last (and in fact, it probably won’t).

Is this giving up, or is this the only way we have to actually change the world?