rain scattered wind thrusting feet rushing to escape why run away from that which I was made? one day I will be rain and gusts pouring down and pushing into somebody else’s rushing feet and wouldn’t I unable to speak or say want them to slow and feel and appreciate ...me?
I sit for 20 minutes Look at the clock And realize it’s only been 3 What’s wrong with me? 20 minutes goes by in 3 When I look at a screen? Why does sitting alone Without the company of a screen Screech things to an unbearable halt? Why can’t I just be? Here with myself Without nervously checking The pixels that seem to control me?
Sounds like a contradiction, eh?
Well, with this one ingredient, you can change everything about your day while simultaneously changing nothing about your day.
What’s that ingredient you ask?
Intentionality.
With intention, everything we do changes:
Sprinkle a little intention into every task of your day and watch how everything changes without even one task being added or subtracted or moved.
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Filling our cups is hard enough.
Don’t let what liquid you’ve carefully filled go to waste.
As you would carefully and delicately place each step while walking with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot tea—so, too, should you walk throughout your day with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot human energy and potential.
…Evenly and mindfully.
Eliminate all distractions and just sit.
No screens. No audio. No people.
Just sit and soak in the world.
You’d be amazed at how different 30 minutes feels.
Want to improve everything in your life?
Add mindfulness to it.
This came to me while lifting weights.
When I’m mindless, I’m focused on vanity metrics (e.g. how heavy can I go).
When I’m mindful, I’m focused on real metrics (e.g. how clean can I perform the move).
And being focused on clean form will result in far more benefit than being focused on sheer weight. Because the problem with “heavy as possible” is that, in most cases, the result is “cheating the reps.”
Either range of motion is shortened, momentum is counterproductively used, or bodily adjustments are made to make the movement “easier” by incorporating more muscle groups (that aren’t designed to be involved in the lifts).
Mindfulness makes us aware of these cheating tactics and reminds us to use lighter weights so that we can use full range of motion that’s free of momentum and is focused exclusively on the muscle groups that are being specifically targeted.
So, too, are the benefits of mindfulness evident in every other area of life:
Mindfulness brings full presence to each task. And if the task is worth doing, you might as well do it right. Otherwise, why do it at all?
What a waste to miss out on what’s here because we're too busy whining about dreaming about scheming about what’s over there.