Coaching Videos & Tips - March 28 2018 No. 551
You Train So That You Can Play
When you mention mindfulness, people get confused... they think it's an end in itself, a way of life. But, in fact, it's a means to an end - a way to a way of life. And, boy, what a life? A life without stress, without a care in the world. But these are only the things you lose. What you gain, in terms of focus, results, achievement and happiness... nothing else will give you that.
I've mentioned (just opposite!) that mindfulness is a way to a way of life.
What kind of life do you want... I mean, really, really want? You need to start reflecting (this is completely different from "thinking about it"!) on what's important to you, who is important, what your real priorities are and how your life would ideally look and feel.
If mindfulness is a way to a way of life, you had better start considering what way of life you desire.
A friend recently told me that one of the first thoughts she has, as she leaves the house for the drudgery of the long commute to work is "Here goes another 90 minutes of my life... and here comes another crap day of hell on earth!" Not exactly the kind of life that today's Quick Tip is all about!!
But there's more to this apparently normal reaction to the working day ahead because, in my friend's case, these thoughts occur to her within 20 or 30 minutes of meditating! Yes, first thing every (or most) morning, she meditates for around 10 minutes. And she 'phoned me wondering if she was missing something!
Indeed she is - some link is broken between her practice of meditation and what comes next... it's a link, I've discovered, that many people who meditate in a vacuum experience. By "in a vacuum" I mean that many practictioners of meditation were taught their practice without the context of everyday life and results... they do it as an exercise separate from everything else.
We meditate so that our clearing minds can be applied to everything that follows. We train our minds to enable us be in the right state of mind when it matters... that is not whilst we're meditating, it matters most when we are doing the things that we need or want to do to get us to where we want to go... the kind of life that we really want. That is why meditation and the mindfulness it develops is a way to a way of life.
The latest statistics on car break-ins and theft in Ireland are revealing. No... we'll start again, they're highly entertaining, even amusing.
One-third of car break-ins or thefts is facilitated by the car owner leaving it unlocked! Yes, you might have expensive sports equipment in the boot, an expensive stereo on the dash or, indeed, simply an expensive car... why not leave it open for anyone and everyone to take what they feel like?
But that's only half (technically one-third!) of the story. Two-thirds of the remaining two-thirds of thefts or break-ins are done... using the key! Yeah, go on, leave your keys on the hall table or at the front door!