Did you miss the first Mindful Moments post? If so, please click here to read it.
If you’re following the program and joining in on the two week hiatus from mainstream media are you noticing any changes after the first day?
Mindful Moment #2
When I was in my late teens and early twenties I feared almost everything. It took me decades of struggle and countless self-help books (which only offered a temporary solution) until I found the one thing that really helped...meditation.
I often wonder what my life would be like today If I hadn't began a meditation practice. My best guess is I would have continued to take the "safe route". It's very likely I'd still be working the same warehouse job I was after high school. The company paid regularly reminded us we were expendable and paid us just enough to keep us there. I drove a forklift and heaved eighty pound boxes onto a conveyer belt for eight to ten hours a day (and sometimes Saturdays). My writing was limited to whatever spare time I had left.
I'm so grateful my life took a different and more interesting turn.
One of the things I've learned from over two decades of meditation practice is fear and its byproduct worry are one of the biggest roadblocks to living our best life. If left unchecked, fear stalks us, relentlessly nagging at us from the shadows.
In actuality Fear is - False Evidence Appearing Real.
Fear's influence can make us live too cautiously and not take enough risk. Most of the time are worries/fears are irrational and unfounded but they can feel as real as life and death. These emotions can drastically limit our personal/professional potential and overall quality of life.
The truth is worry and fear have three things in common. Both of them are bullies, liars, and cowards. Like any bully, they’ll gradually loosen their grip on you each time you stand up to them. The opposite holds true as well, each time you give into them they only get stronger and more oppressive.
Throughout the course of your day today, pause, and try this simple centering meditation. Begin by sitting upright in a comfortable chair then:
- Inhale for a count of 5;
- hold the breath for a count of 5;
- exhale for a count of 5; and
- repeat this 3 times.
Now open your eyes. After this pause, take a mental inventory of your worries/fears. Zero in on just one of them that you feel limits your potential and quality of life. Once you identify that one fear find a way to stand up to it even if it’s just in a small way.
Keep working on that same fear, standing up to it in some way every day for the next five days. It may even take more than five days, if so, it’s okay. The important thing is to stay focused on it until it’s sufficiently released its grip on you. When that day comes, move onto the next fear, and so on.
Once you begin to, systematically, stand up to your fears your life will begin to expand and transform in wonderful ways.
“Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.” — James F. Byrnes
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”— Anais Nin
In Gratitude,
~ Eric Vance Walton ~
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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Fear is a great hindrance. I like your analogy of fear being a bully!
May I add to that reference to standing up to fear to lessen it's power on you with
Your recommendation to stop and just focus in on your breath is great for pulling yourself away from being enveloped by your fears or whatever else may be beginning to overwhelm you. Stay focused and be in the moment, that is my philosophy for living a fuller life!
I don't listen much to the mainstream media or the negativity on social media - no time to let myself get caught up in them but thank-you for the reminder!
You are so right, staying focused on the present moment solves so many of life's problems and puts you in the proper frame of mind to deal with nearly anything that comes your way.
My wife and I have been away from MSM for about five years now. Now, when we catch a few moments of the news while at someone else's house or when traveling through airports we immediately feel how crushingly depressing and negative it is. It really is a barrage of negativity that leaves you feeling differently about the world...and not in a good way.
Thanks for your comment @porters!
Hi Eric, I enjoyed reading your writing about motivation and your life story. To be successful, it is indeed necessary that a strong and brave person to try something new. The older we get, the more life experiences we can get.
Thank you, Eliana, but there's still a lot I need to work on. I think we're all works in progress but the important thing is to do that work. I hope you're having a good Monday!
Things we don't experience much, we are more afraid of that. All these are state of mind.