It becomes more and more precious as we come from a place of conscious mindulness. One of my favorite teachers of all times is Thich Nacht Hanh, a Buddhist monk who started his life in Asia. In 1966 he was exiled from Vietnam for his war stance.. During that time Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder of 'engaged' Buddhism. He reminded us in his teachings, his writings, and his living the role of 'mindfulness' in our lives. It is the concept that it must be a part of our approach to life and without it I would have a difficult time living in the world in today's times.
He once said, "Smile, breathe, and go slowly." It is in that approach that we separate from the framework and fabric of chaos and touch into our internal peace that is the North Star we carry with us at all times.
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During my hospital challenges on of the side effects of my procedures was the appearance of huge hallucinations in my reality. At one point, I was 'running' two detaile and sleshed out delusions interwoven into the life I was living. It was such a separation from everything. I had no idea where I was or even when I was.
One of my first steps toward healing was when I came to a point of re-establishing when I was. It was a day when I was working with my wife and a dear friend along with some medical staff. They asked me such a simple question.
Dave, what is today's date? Well, I thought with supreme confidnece - I certainly knew the answer to that question. I spent some time in silence as I oriented what dates had passed and where I was and came up with a clear answer. I looked at the circle of people and replied January 17th as we moved forward. Then came the big shock. The group let me know that the actual date was January 10th and I was a full week off-kilter. This was the first hint that I hadn;t settled into 'when' I was in the planet. This one step to know when I was became such a strong point in helping me start to move forward.
Mindfulness is about knowing our North Star location and where we fit in with everything around us. In my last set of blogs, I have been talking about 'overwhelm' and 'safety' in living. Our job is learning to feed ourselves in the pause part of our life. It is the part where we are re-connecting our internal parts.
It is as if we've come to the planet with an unfinished electrical board in our chest. not all the circuits have been connected and our job is in a slow and conscious way to re-connect one wire at a time. How is your re-wiring going? Every day hook up another wire and the circuits will continue to re-start and balance. Things will be smoother and easier.
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