Nothing reframes priorities like natural disasters, and the record-breaking heat wave we're experiencing in this country is doing just that. As crops burn in the fields and water evaporates, it's easy to translate what's important.
Food and water.
You can forget the paper money you've got stashed away, or the pulse on your 401K. Without water to drink, or healthy food on the table, it means "nada"!
The visual for me is that less than a mile from my home, the Colorado River is ankle-deep, while smoke billows on the horizon above the Bookcliffs from a fire that has raged for days. Over in Colorado Springs, over 300 families have lost their homes to fires of epic proportion there.
All of a sudden, giving thought to which shade of paint to select for my kitchen walls or which style of sandal to purchase seems glaringly inappropriate in the light of what appear to be obvious shifts from life as we know it.
Am I a doomsdayer?
No. That would be to focus on hand-wringing or mindless distractions.
Every day of our lives, there are choices that lie before us as to how we might play a better role in our world.
I believe it begins with gratitude.
For me, I'm grateful that I even have a kitchen, or a strong body so I can do the things I need to do ~ with or without new sandals!
And if you have good food to eat and fresh, clean water to drink, don't miss any opportunity to whisper a prayer of thanks!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Mindfulness Isn't Thinking!
There's a veritable "mindfulness" movement going on!
I've married it to "eating" in my blog entries, but it's so much larger than that. And, if you apply mindfulness to eating, you can then apply it to the other areas of your life.
When you create enough space in time to step back and be aware of your food choices, eventually you will find it easier to act on that awareness and make better choices. The other benefit is that when you create some space in time, a pause, you begin to ratchet down your stress level.
The reason "mindfulness" is resonating now is because we're all wound way too tight trying to control everything as the ground shifts beneath us ~ and we're finding that our inner terrain is all we can really count on.
When it comes to that universal challenge of eating well, our minds run like hamsters in a cage as we research the best way to do it, make a plan, and then mentally flog ourselves when we don't make it happen.
But in that calming arena of "mindfulness," we discover that we're not in this to "win," because there is no finish line. Every moment is our opportunity to feel better, and the food choices that we make play a very large part in that because the better the food, the more energy is delivered at a cellular level.
We've been so programmed to investing our efforts in the future, or worthlessly, in the past, that we neglect the very real opportunities before us, right now.
To be mindful, or fully present in the moment, is our reset button.
We all get caught up in the momentum of the things we have to do everyday. Just don't let your food choices become a part of that blur.
Take some time and savor something that you know is good for you!
I've married it to "eating" in my blog entries, but it's so much larger than that. And, if you apply mindfulness to eating, you can then apply it to the other areas of your life.
When you create enough space in time to step back and be aware of your food choices, eventually you will find it easier to act on that awareness and make better choices. The other benefit is that when you create some space in time, a pause, you begin to ratchet down your stress level.
The reason "mindfulness" is resonating now is because we're all wound way too tight trying to control everything as the ground shifts beneath us ~ and we're finding that our inner terrain is all we can really count on.
When it comes to that universal challenge of eating well, our minds run like hamsters in a cage as we research the best way to do it, make a plan, and then mentally flog ourselves when we don't make it happen.
But in that calming arena of "mindfulness," we discover that we're not in this to "win," because there is no finish line. Every moment is our opportunity to feel better, and the food choices that we make play a very large part in that because the better the food, the more energy is delivered at a cellular level.
We've been so programmed to investing our efforts in the future, or worthlessly, in the past, that we neglect the very real opportunities before us, right now.
To be mindful, or fully present in the moment, is our reset button.
We all get caught up in the momentum of the things we have to do everyday. Just don't let your food choices become a part of that blur.
Take some time and savor something that you know is good for you!
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