Mindfulness – Cheeky Street

There are a lot more wrinkles on my face and I have a lot less motivation to do anything about it;

The months drift along like a river, offering days to be gentle and moments to be determined and focused, either way, doing nothing and doing something – the river roils about its business;

Truly delighting in the company of another is the closest we come to our best, fully human nature, and spending too much time alone causes our hearts, souls and minds to atrophy;

Choosing what not to worry about is possibly the most important distinction we make between living and dying;

Letting go brings multitudes of joy and illumination, if you can withstand the temporary pain of shedding an attachment to an illusion;

Gentleness is the greatest manifestation of strength, if only the mind would allow our heart to lead;

These photos depict 2 days of my life 25 years apart – delighting in the company of my baby daughter and cuddling with my new kitten, both moments weaving together a life of savoring what might otherwise be forgotten;

I was telling friends our parenting challenges and the many ways institutions devised to “track progress” and label your child’s productivity but the best parenting advice we ever received was simply to strive to remain connected to the humans we cared for;

Staying connected and seeking ways to make the puzzle pieces fit seems a much better framework for moving through pain toward oneness to me;

Back to the wrinkles, the subject of nearly daily dread and obsession – shouldn’t I be more focused on the smile and sparkle of the eyes, those seem to be the same and they are the best measure of a life well lived;

Remembering love is a far richer use of the time I have left on this Earth than counting heartaches and insults – why not begin again today?

I used to admire people who knew how to hustle (yes, both the dance and the driven work-ethic type!). Ya know, the “early bird gets the worm” types? Dale Carnegie quoting, biz card distributing, wink wink “let’s do lunch” types? Then I became a Mother. And 50. And the world is suddenly full of hatred, violence and guns.

The world is different than it was 25 years ago and so are my ideas about success. I still admire hard working, driven people with big dreams. On negative days, I believe that greed and selfishness have led to unimaginable and irreparable harm to our planet and the people who depend on others to look out for them to survive. On positive days, I am filled with hope and ambition and willingness to love every inch of this world to death.

As I evaluate my life’s potential at 50, I have decided I want to do as much loving,helping and giving as I can until I take my last breath. But not in a preachy, annoying, “uber Lib” kind of way (as my darling right-leaning friends would describe it). Here is my short list of things I want to do to change the world in the little time I have left:

Learn as much as possible about the brain’s ability to change itself to achieve a personal sense of purpose, goodness and peace – then share that knowledge;
Work to help children understand their inner power to change themselves and their circumstances through simple techniques like mindfulness;
Listen to the life stories of all kinds of amazing people and document those memories for families and uplift the realm of personal history for children;
Marinate the world in love.

My mind works in strange ways, and it was actually this dutiful and loving Momma Goose who interrupted traffic on my commute home the other day who got me thinking about mindfulness. For one brief moment, everybody’s “hustle” halted to ensure the safety of her goslings crossing behind her on the highway. Like the Momma Goose, I want to help the world understand our innate abilities to pull the trigger on mindfulness instead of guns and violence.

In conclusion, I share with you a personal story shared by the Sandy Hook Promise organization. Whatever it takes, for however long, taking time to help children understand that guns are not the answer is a worthwhile use of my time:

Senator Chris Murphy Ends 15-Hour Filibuster With Moving Tribute to Two Sandy Hook Victims