Life, the world, well, everything, is pretty wild right now. Weirdness abounds. The hair pulling kind. The ‘I’ll have that second martini please – wait, I don’t drink anymore – damn, okay, the ‘I’ll have a giant piece of chocolate’, kind.
We’ve done a rewind to the era when we didn’t understand that asbestos kills you, carbon emissions are bad for the atmosphere (whether we created them or not), radium was considered a beauty aid, and it’s okay to dump coal slush in a river.
There is a rumor that we have passed through a portal to a new paradigm. In this paradigm, humanity is evolving to a kinder, gentler way of being. Yay. What we are seeing now is the last gasp of the old, self-immolating ways.
There is also another rumor that a squirrel snuck into the Hadron Collider and the little bugger knocked us into a parallel universe that isn’t as great.
Either way, right now is tough. You can build your own rocket and take your chances on Mars, become an ostrich and stick your head in the sand, or find a deserted island to live on – no wait, that won’t work because sea levels actually are rising. Okay, you can hide on a mountain top somewhere.
In lieu of all these possibilities, may I suggest the following 5 actions to keep your sanity . . . or at least what’s left of it.
Turn off your digital life for ten minutes a day. I know, I know, you want the umbilical cord connected at all times in order to stay informed, connected, amped, whatever. Ten minutes is only ten minutes. In that ten minutes, pause, pay attention to your breath. Breathing is an amazing experience. On the in-breath you are taking in life. Tiny oxygen particles combined with nitrogen particles with a bunch of other stuff (ignore the toxins) in this awesome combination that allows life to exist on our planet. It’s truly awesome, right? Now, on the out breath, you can exhale all the insane, mean, weird things you managed to wade through to get to this exact moment in your day. . . and your breath is proof of that. Well done.
Find some flowers. Real ones. Smell them, for a long time. Smell them until the bliss rolls through your body and gratitude fills you for these incredible blossoms so loved by the bees . . . and you. Then smell them again.
Watch a sunset. I’d suggest watching a sunrise, but that isn’t going to happen where I live. The shining yellow orb hits the skies at 430 AM. I’m not that motivated. So, watching a sunset is doable. Savor the colors. If you are unfortunate enough to live in the areas covered with smoke from the fires, if it’s any consolation to the crappy air, Mother Earth is known to provide kick-ass good sunsets through the smoke haze.
Tell someone in your life how important they are to you. How knowing them is an honor – because it is. It doesn’t have to be a close friend or family member, though it can be. There are 7.6 billion humans on this planet, and out of all those humans, you two have met each other. You’ve shared time together. Maybe even supported each other through a rough spot. Tell them it’s an honor and a privilege to share being human with them.
Finally, once a day, cultivate a sense of goodwill. Not just be kind. I mean cultivate Good-Will. It’s one of the most basic spiritual qualities of the human being. Try and approach life with an attitude of cooperation toward another human. Deeply listen to what they are saying. Reserve judgment. Offer support.
You can cultivate goodwill more than once a day, of course. You can spend your whole day, heck, your whole life, cultivating goodwill inside yourself. It will be stupendous if we all do. But doing it is hard, so once a day is a good place to start. This will set up a ripple, both inside you and in your community. This ripple will grow and touch others and others and well, you get the drift.
We can create a 100th monkey effect of goodwill. Imagine what this paradigm will be like if everyone’s first thought every day is ‘how can I cultivate Good-Will’. One breath, then another. Watch that sunset. Smell that flower. Help a stranger.
This wild ride will slow down. I promise.
We’ve done a rewind to the era when we didn’t understand that asbestos kills you, carbon emissions are bad for the atmosphere (whether we created them or not), radium was considered a beauty aid, and it’s okay to dump coal slush in a river.
There is a rumor that we have passed through a portal to a new paradigm. In this paradigm, humanity is evolving to a kinder, gentler way of being. Yay. What we are seeing now is the last gasp of the old, self-immolating ways.
There is also another rumor that a squirrel snuck into the Hadron Collider and the little bugger knocked us into a parallel universe that isn’t as great.
Either way, right now is tough. You can build your own rocket and take your chances on Mars, become an ostrich and stick your head in the sand, or find a deserted island to live on – no wait, that won’t work because sea levels actually are rising. Okay, you can hide on a mountain top somewhere.
In lieu of all these possibilities, may I suggest the following 5 actions to keep your sanity . . . or at least what’s left of it.
Turn off your digital life for ten minutes a day. I know, I know, you want the umbilical cord connected at all times in order to stay informed, connected, amped, whatever. Ten minutes is only ten minutes. In that ten minutes, pause, pay attention to your breath. Breathing is an amazing experience. On the in-breath you are taking in life. Tiny oxygen particles combined with nitrogen particles with a bunch of other stuff (ignore the toxins) in this awesome combination that allows life to exist on our planet. It’s truly awesome, right? Now, on the out breath, you can exhale all the insane, mean, weird things you managed to wade through to get to this exact moment in your day. . . and your breath is proof of that. Well done.
Find some flowers. Real ones. Smell them, for a long time. Smell them until the bliss rolls through your body and gratitude fills you for these incredible blossoms so loved by the bees . . . and you. Then smell them again.
Watch a sunset. I’d suggest watching a sunrise, but that isn’t going to happen where I live. The shining yellow orb hits the skies at 430 AM. I’m not that motivated. So, watching a sunset is doable. Savor the colors. If you are unfortunate enough to live in the areas covered with smoke from the fires, if it’s any consolation to the crappy air, Mother Earth is known to provide kick-ass good sunsets through the smoke haze.
Tell someone in your life how important they are to you. How knowing them is an honor – because it is. It doesn’t have to be a close friend or family member, though it can be. There are 7.6 billion humans on this planet, and out of all those humans, you two have met each other. You’ve shared time together. Maybe even supported each other through a rough spot. Tell them it’s an honor and a privilege to share being human with them.
Finally, once a day, cultivate a sense of goodwill. Not just be kind. I mean cultivate Good-Will. It’s one of the most basic spiritual qualities of the human being. Try and approach life with an attitude of cooperation toward another human. Deeply listen to what they are saying. Reserve judgment. Offer support.
You can cultivate goodwill more than once a day, of course. You can spend your whole day, heck, your whole life, cultivating goodwill inside yourself. It will be stupendous if we all do. But doing it is hard, so once a day is a good place to start. This will set up a ripple, both inside you and in your community. This ripple will grow and touch others and others and well, you get the drift.
We can create a 100th monkey effect of goodwill. Imagine what this paradigm will be like if everyone’s first thought every day is ‘how can I cultivate Good-Will’. One breath, then another. Watch that sunset. Smell that flower. Help a stranger.
This wild ride will slow down. I promise.
