Awareness: Identity

“So, what do you do?”

How many times have you been asked that question?

And had the conversation devolve into a discussion that is nominally about the askers self-importance. 

Yet, at the core of the question is a deeper question?

“What is my identity?” 

Or rather, “Who am I?”

Are you your job or what you do? If it goes away, do you?

Are you your parents?  Your family?   Your schooling?  Or training?

Maybe you’re your partner?  Your kids?

Your religious affiliation or not?

Your political party or the other?

Maybe you don’t know how to be without your “you” identities…


Are you your successes or your failures?

Think of all the “yous” there are.  

All the masks, all the actors you play and none of these are truly you!

And rarely if ever to you let anyone truly know you: the authentic you.

The you that is afraid: that you will not be liked or not be accepted or fill-in-your blank…

Why?

[to be continued…]

Nothing New

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.

Destination Thinking

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.

There had to be a better way… 

The First Step

The first step is simple and yet hard.

Stop trying to change, stop trying to make changes, stop trying to push through, stop everything; and take a deep breath and be aware.

Be aware of inner thoughts.

When you wake in the middle of the night, what do you hear?

In the morning, what is the first thing that you hear?

What mental loops, the tape that continues to play, what do you hear?

What do you feel in your body? Where does it hurt?

Give yourself time to listen.

All painful thoughts and body aches and frustrations, even anger, are just information.

And deep awareness is the first step to healing…

The Busy Mind

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.

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