Everything I’m going to say in this blog is not new. It has been said before in nearly every culture and religion, and in every way humanly possible.
If there is any “new” message it might be this: it is easier to seek, than to practice.
I, and likely you too, live in a culture that is always “selling” something new and improved, and often for sale and profits.
For example, mindfulness is nearly a billion-dollar business. The word “mindful” appears as a selling point on a seemingly endless list of books, magazines, videos, and even in this blog.
Mindfulness is not new, and, in fact, it is free.
It takes minutes to learn and a lifetime of practice.
Realize that a different teacher or new technique will not make you or I more mindful person.
Practicing a few mindful techniques will, overtime, yield the results.
I can hear you saying, “it hasn’t worked for me…”
My answer is simple, “Have you developed a consistent daily practice?”
Each of us must discover what works and yet, few continue with the practice.
I read recently, that positive brain changes are medically detectable in only 8-weeks after beginning meditation; and continued practice has a lifetime of benefits.
Too often many want an immediate benefit without the effort.
It’s a journey, practice is a journey. And along the way, you will discover the real you, the true you; not the editorial-self, the actor you, that you live every day.
The reward is the peace of knowing yourself; and, overtime, the potential to be okay with the you, accepting yourself, loving yourself, the self that you have been hiding from.
It just takes practice. It takes consistent daily practice.
I am deeply aware that the 1st half, or rather most of my life, was lived in destination thinking.
“What is this destination thinking?”
It is a life that is always lived for something in the future, a future time or place.
It’s easy to spot. It sounds like this.
“If I can make it to lunch…”
“20 minutes and then I can fight the traffic home…”
“Wednesday, it’s hump day…”
“One day until the weekend…”
“Vacation in two weeks, then…”
“When I get this done, I will be able to…”
“Can’t wait until…”
Every day, tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of times was focused on the next, the future!
Very little was lived in the Now; very little was truly enjoyed.
I was physically there, but my mind was always thinking about the next activity, the next to-do, the next workday, the next cool grown-up-toy, the next, the next, the next…
I was rarely aware of Now.
My brain looped, over and over and over; day-in and day-out.
Looking back, it was miserable.
I lived that way for the first 40-years, give or take; even though I started the transition toward the Mindful Pathway in my 30s, it took years to break the habit.
Quickly, my attempts to change grew into thousands of attempts and then countless.
Frank joins 24 healers and coaches in the second in The Ancestors Within book series with The Power of Your Ancestor’s Prayers: Accessing the Energy and Hope of the Past for Your Best Life Today.
October 2021 Release.
Author Chapter 12
The Power of Your Ancestor’s Prayers
3am again and the mind literally has “a mind of its own.” For years, a few hours of restless sleep followed by a thinking mind at 3am – why always the same cycle?
Sound familiar?
It seemed to never stop. The idea of being still was so foreign, it was a nice goal for those monks and other deeply spiritual folk, but who has time to sit still and even if there were a moment of stillness – this thing inside me was always thinking, no “It” was always obsessing over everything without end.
In the beginning it was not clear where to start or even how to get started. The long journey at that point was not that unique. Seemingly typical childhood, traditional religious roots, worked and went to college, married by 22, kid by 28, lots of busy and lots of work. Frankly, it seems like a blur – the memories now seem veiled in a distant past.
Where very little was lived, you know “Lived!” Life was mostly a rush from the alarm until the pillow.
Every minute filled, every conversation focused on the next, and the next, and the next. There was no time. None!
No matter how early the clock or late the pillow – each second was scheduled to a task, a project, or a person – and often double booked.
The days turned into years, and then into decades. These were hard years, but what came next were the “the growth years.”
The survival years – Life 1.0. And without warning it came…
