Hallelujah that this is not MY garage!
But mine was indeed a disorganized mess so I recently decided to add shelves, get the rakes (and, of course, the hockey sticks!) hung up. I got rid of the old lawn mower that only started sometimes. The golf clubs that my son used when he was 8 finally got sold.
It took days to get it to where it is now. And there’s still more to it — a masterpiece in progress.
Since the pandemic started, have you been getting more done around the house too?
Cooking more? (sourdough bread doesn’t count)
Or not...
How much more television have you been watching? YouTube? I’ve been watching more too. No judgement.
In the past few months we’ve zigzagged into an altered space-time continuum.
Check All That Apply:
□ Keeping different hours
□ Exercising less
□ Gaming more
□ Face is perpetually in the fridge
□ Drinking more
□ Falling asleep in front of the TV more
Or do you find yourself in a weekly call or text saga with a fearful friend or relative?
Does the 2020 mantra “Stay Safe” feed into your own fear of the unknown?
And, even if you don’t game yourself, maybe you’re being exposed second-hand to the seemingly innocuous violence in Fortnite.
Then, is it really a surprise that you’ve been feeling more anxious lately?
In the same way that the body gets backed up from unhealthy eating and a sedentary lifestyle, the mind gets flooded and struggles to function effectively if it’s not regularly purged of all the impressions, memories and outdated paradigms that it collects.
TV, gaming, podcasts, radio, conversations all create perpetual impressions – good and bad – that accumulate in the mind.
Then, like all the layers of crap in my garage, it can be difficult at first to even know how to start to peel back the layers of experiences, knowledge and preconceived notions to get to the true Self and find your path: what you’re supposed to be doing during your time on this earth. Besides watching the Hamilton movie for a third time.
One Layer At a Time
Set a timer for 60 seconds, let go of all the thoughts in the mind. Yea, they’ll still be there – vying for your attention like fan girls, trying to get a reaction out of you. But, just for now, let them all BE. Instead, keeping putting your attention on the breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. Every time you let yourself be taken in by a thought, acknowledge it, let it go and return to the breath.
With practice, the thoughts will begin to dissipate away from the forefront of the mind during this session. Then, after, you have the golden opportunity of choosing which thoughts to entertain. Eventually you will look at some of them and decide they are not worth letting back in.
example: “I’m overweight. This means that I’m not worth of love.”
Make the time to do this every day. Surely you can find a single minute in your day.
You’ll be surprised how much better you feel when you’re thinking more clearly and utilizing the repurposed energy that you’ve gained from no longer buying into invalid story lines.