A Sincere Attempt at a Mindful Life

I love this.

I am fortunate to live next to a hidden gem of a "store" (I use parentheses because its technically a store, but is actually so much more).Every month they release a magazine containing the local events and several interesting articles....and amazing little snippets like the one above.

Every morning I wake up, stretch for about 5 minutes, bring my attention to my breath, get out of bed and make a beeline to the Coffee pot. 

I then sit on my back porch drinking my life giving liquid while simultaneously listening to the birds, wind, and life force waking up all around me. 

Several Mornings ago, I was reading the latest copy of said magazine and found this... And I immediately fell in word love.

I originally planned on only writing about the picture, but it took a detour upon the start of the Morning time discussion... So bare with my ADHD for a moment and then Ill go back to the picture...

Anyway, my morning time...

I love being alone at this time. 

Probably because its the only time I can be.... 

Between the husband, daughter and her adopted Grandpa you can guarantee its a rarity.

I now understand why there are Pictures floating around the social media accounts of Moms everywhere shamefully admitting to hiding in closets to eat candy bars. This is a no judgement zone FYI... I fully condone hiding... Just maybe not to eat Processed Sugar and steal from your kid. 

Something like meditation, reading, napping though is a whole nutha story...and one that can be justified well.

In my Family, it's as if every person in this home has a pre programmed radar for knowing exactly when I am trying to Meditate, Write, or have any kind of quiet time whatsoever. It seriously is creepy...

I often think it must be how a bunch of mind readers feel living together. No one could ever do the passive aggressive roommate crap and claim they had no idea how the last yogurt you dreamed of devouring all Day long mysteriously vanished from its last known location.  

At least I have food in my fridge, a toddler making messes, and beings I can count on around me. Some are not so fortunate...

See.. Theres a silver lining in everything. Which brings me to my next point...

Gratitude works wonders! 

While I'm writing this and complaining about my ever dwindling peace and quiet time, there are people all over this big rock who would give anything for one more day with family or children... Or to experience the miracle of parenting at all. 

And it would really be messed up to not acknowledge the poor souls that cant drink or dont have access to coffee...i mean that may be the worst of it all!  (Seriously tho I'm kidding)

The point is I truly attempt to (remember) to make the conscious decision to be Grateful for the Good in my life, but also the bad. 

Its not always easy, and has taken years to train my Egoic mind to go to Gratitude rather than self pity. And even now I occasionally allow my Ego to take control, but thankfully, my meditation practice and inner reflection helps me to curb it before I am in my bed with the blankets pulled over my head sobbing "Why does everyone hate me?? I DONT DESERVE THIS!! "

... no judgement zone remember..... 

Or flipping out on an innocent a hole just doing what his karmic soul was put here to do. 

Progress not perfection right?

So back to the paragraph in the magazine...
I personally believe 85% of our societys problems can be traced back to three things.

1. We do not believe we are part of an ecosystem. We think we control the ecosystem when in fact no one does, nothing does.  We are the ecosystem, it is us. 

There is nothing wrong with paying attention to nature, respecting said nature and wanting people to have compassion towards all living things. There is also nothing wrong with rolling Down a grassy hill, running around the beach splashing in the waves, or laying on a blanket admiring the clouds or stars above. 

That's what it is there for!

2. We have created a pressure cooker society where the idea of slowing down or not chasing fortune means something is wrong with you. 

We no longer believe happiness is a PERSONAL human right. We have adopted the belief system that unless you become something or have something you can never be happy. And if you don't desire something you've obviously lost your mind.

3. We have completely lost touch with the true nature of our Being. LovingKindness and Compassion has become Ego and self will run riot. We no longer believe in the "it takes a village" mindset. 

Our true purpose is to love and be loved. To love in harmony with one's self and one's surroundings, human or not. We are all the same, and need each other. We are Spiritual Sentient Beings having a Human Earthly Experience, and have amazing abilities both in the physical and spiritual realms. We are eternal and we are divine. 

When humanity is viewed from a Conscious standpoint it is almost impossible to not agree with everything written in this picture.

If happiness is only obtained by going within a society thats based on the idea of only seeking outward is doomed from the start.

Jesus said "Neither look here nor there, for the kingdom of heaven is within ".  I mean that's pretty much said as plainly as possible...yet we continue to think of even Heaven as this obtainable gole, all the while missing the Heaven in each of us at any given moment.

If every person on this Earth gave a 25% effort at living in the manner depicted in the photo above I personally believe we would be amazed before we even realized the change occurred. 

Life is too short, and the state of the world too hard, to not live in LovingKindness... And by living in LovingKindness we can create a life where time is limitless and the world is our caregiver, and we are its. So go do something fun today... enjoy life. Have fun!  Love everything and everyone and attempt to see things as if for the first time in your life. 

And if at 5 pm you realize you forgot, or you had a karmic lesson on Being an AssHole, dont worry... You did exactly what you were supposed to today. Try to see the reasons for todays actions and if need be mediation will bring the answer... Always remember Tomorrow is a redo. Actually, the next second is a redo, because that other cluster of bad seconds before it are already gone forever. Just a Made up thought in your head.

I do not want to look back and regret time being spent on literally meaningless tasks instead of spending it doing something I love, or something that puts me closer to doing something I love. This world is a miracle every day. Being a Mother is my ultimate joy and there is nothing I love better than loving my daughter, taking her on adventures outdoors, showing her this world, showing her life, and most importantly showing her how to interact with both using LovingKindness. Life is Perspective.. We literally have the power to enjoy life however we want, but first we must be the change...