Mindfulness

The other day I tripped walking in my yard. I didn’t fall, and I don’t think anyone saw me, but I still felt like a dolt.

While ruminating on that adventure, and being thankful I did not fall into a pile of Hercules’ (Graham’s dog) leavings, I thought about balance and how it governs my life.

I used to think it was schedules, but I am starting to realize the things I schedule are to balance out the day. I sleep, so I have to wake, I get hungry, so I eat, I want to live inside, so I go to the office, etc. Hopefully, it all balances out.

But what about when I get angry, or scared or sad? What about balancing emotions? I think that is where mindfulness comes in, and what is pretty neat is there is no one thing to balance emotions. If I am angry, I can let myself be mad, I can take a deep breath, I can try to meditate, I can go for a walk (and hopefully not trip), or do all of those things. But eventually balance comes. I just have to be patient, be mindful. Sometimes that’s hard, but knowing it will come makes it easier. And while I’m waiting I can pick up dogs*