We are not who we want to be.
We are not who we think we are.
We are what we DO.
If we don’t choose our actions carefully, we’ll end up carelessly becoming a person we didn’t intend to become.
And what a tragedy that would be.
Once we decide who we want to be, we must act it.
The easiest fight to win is the one you don’t get into.
Some fights can’t be avoided, but many of them can be.
When you get better at picking your battles, you get better at winning your battles.
Not just because of fights avoided, but because of the energy that’s saved for the others.
Remind yourself constantly:
And then leave work guilt-free because…
Well, do we need to repeat it again?
Sometimes, meditating might make you feel anxious.
Of course!
…Because you’re choosing to confront an anxious mind that’s full of clouded, mudded, raging thoughts.
Here’s the thing: the means to settling an anxious mind isn’t done by stirring it up with more information, stimulation, and distraction—it’s done by giving it the space it needs in absence of those things.
Sitting with the discomfort is the means.
And what you might realize, is that your raging mind—like a child raging with a temper tantrum—does eventually relent to the space, boredom, and non-stimulation of a good timeout.
The only question is, can you be firm enough to put your mind in timeout or will you continue to let the child of your mind rage?
Stop making it worse.
Yesterday, my hometown got 18 inches of snow.
All at once.
And when I looked out the window—all I saw was work.
But, when I looked out the window later that day, I saw a boy across the street jumping and playing in it.
And I didn’t see work anymore.
I saw magic.