Trust what's happening (Including the free stuff I'm offering!)
How can we trust what's happening our lives? (and I've still got FREE STUFF available, although places are being taken now, thankfully. See below! Train in mindfulness! Become a nature mystic!)
I've bumped into this question a lot in recent weeks. Having a one year old, a ten year old, a mortgage, being self employed and all that shebang, it all gets me thinking sometimes. This time reminds me a little of when corona virus hit; bits of panic, the idea of a crisis being spread by the media, turning the screw on our already busy, somewhat pressured existence. It's testing.
I'm grateful I have things like meditation. I'm not saying this to show off, make people feel bad or make anyone think I have anything sorted, but to lay out the change of perspective I get from slowing my mind the f=*k down.
And that's pretty much what meditation is - it's getting as close as I can to doing nothing. That in itself is an act of rebellion in a world that tells us to work more and fit more stuff into our lives. I was listening to a great podcast recently called Boot Camp for Life, written by TV magician and proponent of modern Stoicism, Derren Brown. It is entertaining and worth a listen. In it they talk about things like the Protestant Work Ethic and how, although we don't necessarily believe that working and being successful will bring us closer to God, as many Protestants did (and still do) the meaning has shifted, or should I say, has been wholeheartedly adopted by capitalism and its members (i.e. everyone in the West). In other words we feel that we are good people if we work hard and make money, which, of course suggests that we could be bad/unproductive/antisocial members of society if we are not doing what is expected from us by the majoity.
One downside to being busy all the time is that we don't have time to slow down and consider what really matters to us in our lives. We don't get a chance to consider that we may be stressed and heading for burnout, because we have enough money for whatever form of escape we need. Do you agree or disagree?
On another note
Here's a great thing to do. Try this:
think about a thing you don't like about your life right now. Could be something simple like the way your hair is, how your body looks to you, something silly you said or a think about something you want but you currently can't afford.
Now, imagine that you are older, say 80, looking back at how you are now. Would you be bothered about the hair, you'd probably kill for the body you have now and things you said would really not matter one little bit. Oh, and you would definitely know that getting the things you can afford does not make you happier.
That's it! It's just a little exercise in looking at where you are now from an older, wiser version of yourself.
YOU WILL NEVER GET THIS TIME BACK
What's happening right now, you will never get back - the stuff you like and the stuff you don't like. Life is changing constantly, our moods change, our situations change and we are so often under the illusion that we need to be moving forward all the time, to be working towards something, in other words, the Protestant Work Ethic forces us to put our happiness in expectation, postponing it until some future time. THAT TIME WILL NEVER COME and even if you do become rich and successful, you will unlikely feel any different to how you feel right now.
SO IT'S ALL ABOUT NOW
Slow down and experience what's happening now; the sadness, the fear, the joy the gratitude, the jittery feeling of trying to feel what's happening. We are conditioned to always be seeking something new. If you don't believe me, sit down and do nothing but focus ONLY on your breath for 2 minutes and see what happens. It's not asking a lot. Let me know how it goes.
Trust what is happening now, including this:
MINDFULNESS COURSE STARTS 2ND NOVEMBER and NATURE COURSE STARTS 10th NOVEMBER
What I'm offering here is support. Things are slow in my work right now, granted, and lots of people in well being work are in the same boat. I'm not going to hide that, but I'm not letting that stop me from doing what I love. I would rather do it for free or donations and get work elsewhere than give up on what I love. And so that's what I'm doing.
I'm doing this because I LOVE it and I get a lot from sharing these things.
So, tell your friends, invite your lovers to learn some cool stuff that might be the beginning of an amazing exploration into consciousness, conditioning and starting to look at things differently.
THIS! https://endless-river.org/mindfulness-training/ and
THIS https://endless-river.org/meeting-your-nature/
are now FREE or pay what you feel. There is literally NOTHING, apart from perhaps your own doubts and fears (which have served their purpose and are just acting out now, seriously) standing in your way (unless you are unavailable Wednesday and Thursday nights, of course! But even that could be changed if you really wanted it to!) of learning some cool things.
My wish for your well being and inspiration and movement and variety in you life
Alan 07421 294 194