Surprise! This is not a book review. But, many more of those to come in the near future. A blog post is definitely the best medium for my thoughts to converge into a linear written form about what I took away from each read. So I tend to pack this blog with them (or fall back on a simple structure where I don’t have to think as hard to write a uniquely formed post).
As I sit in this coffee shop, I’m grateful for the unintentional (maybe?) repeat play of Justin Bieber’s “What Do U Mean?”. It got me thinking… That’s a lie. It got me to bob my head in a few different directions and look up from my computer as I desperately hash out an internal communication strategy for work. As I looked up I noticed. I noticed everything around me. The tall ceiling, the concrete wall, the table that’s suspended from the tall ceiling, the two medieval chandeliers hanging from the tall ceiling. People. People working, like me. People making conversation. People brewing coffee. It’s a kind of chaotic beauty that feels interconnected, and right.
Awareness. Noting. Being in the moment. All things I’ve learned through my nascent relationship with meditation. My most recent lesson has been in “acceptance.” More specifically, the opposite of resistance. Who or what in my life am I resisting? Not Justin Bieber, that’s for sure. But, I do get this feeling every now and then. My teeth grit. My head turns slightly to the left. And I quietly fume. I resist. Things, ideas, and even people. I judge. I keep grudges. I write off people and ideas that make me uncomfortable. But since meditation, instead, I note. I note when my teeth clench. When my head starts to turn and my eyes start to mentally roll. I note when I’m about to shut down and clamp. And I tell myself I’m resisting. And that’s it. I don’t do anything differently from there. Perhaps I breathe a little deeper. Uncurl my toes. And relax my shoulders. But that’s it. And it actually… works.
So next time - when you nod your head yes, but you wanna say no.. think to yourself: What Do U Mean?