We live in a society where being over booked, over worked, over committed and stretched too far are seeing as the basis of accolades. Success has started to become defined more by how busy you are. How often have you heard a colleague talk about that and it's seen as a measure of success. It has almost come to the point where, if you are not having to work on the weekend, then there is something wrong. This appears to have become the norm in corporate and professional positions. The possibility of escape is destroyed by email, text messaging and the constant need for electronic connection.
Of course, not everyone is in this boat. Far too many are, for lots of complicated societal reasons that we need not dissect here. Meditation becomes a way to begin to pull back from that "over" syndrome. It is a way to create space in a day, even for just 10 minutes, that is devoted to being just with yourself. At first, it's tough - your mind wanders (as all minds do) and you have to resist the temptation to check on the latest email etc etc.
In my meditation today, along the edges of the Bow River here in Calgary, I reflected on this as I sat quietly with my eyes shut. Later, I focused on what was happening just before my eyes on the ground in front. Then I looked out at the river at a fixed point watching as things passed by - the water, the geese, a canoe, other birds. We don't need to attached to those things - they just are. It is a switch from I must do - to I don't need to do anything - the geese can do what the geese do; the canoe can go wherever the canoeist takes it; the water just passes. There is nothing I need to do which is the antidote to "over" syndrome.
Of course, not everyone is in this boat. Far too many are, for lots of complicated societal reasons that we need not dissect here. Meditation becomes a way to begin to pull back from that "over" syndrome. It is a way to create space in a day, even for just 10 minutes, that is devoted to being just with yourself. At first, it's tough - your mind wanders (as all minds do) and you have to resist the temptation to check on the latest email etc etc.
In my meditation today, along the edges of the Bow River here in Calgary, I reflected on this as I sat quietly with my eyes shut. Later, I focused on what was happening just before my eyes on the ground in front. Then I looked out at the river at a fixed point watching as things passed by - the water, the geese, a canoe, other birds. We don't need to attached to those things - they just are. It is a switch from I must do - to I don't need to do anything - the geese can do what the geese do; the canoe can go wherever the canoeist takes it; the water just passes. There is nothing I need to do which is the antidote to "over" syndrome.
Being Present - take some time to just look at the picture - go past the obvious and try to figure out what is actually in the photo. How do you react to it - what do you feel? What happens when you spend even a couple of minutes just looking at it - what changes within you?
Quiet
Sitting quietly by the river
A spot I walk past often
I can feel a breeze
Come in from the right
Caressing my facing
Wafting past to carry on its journey
The ants walk across my hand
I can hear footsteps on the pathway behind
In front is the gentle gurgle
of side streams taking wayward
journeys from the river
The ground beneath is cool
It's fall so leaves lay around me
Some appear magically from the sky
Having said farewell to their host
There are scenes of the life around me
to which we are all connected
The spider goes across my leg
I just observe
And off the spider goes
So often we fail to see
And when we do we jump to react
The spider wanted nothing from me
But to traverse the leg occupying space
Control, power and reaction
offer nothing
It is about being present
What do you notice when you
just stay present
It is the world we live within
What happens when you come to know it
When you just sit and observe
The story within and without just happens
Moving on
There is no attachment
Just observation
Quiet and peace
© Peter Choate, 2016
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