Courage is the price life exacts for granting peace.
— Emilia Earhart, American aviator pioneer
Each new day is an opportunity to make choices and live courageously. The root of the word courage means heart (Coeur/French, Cor/Latin). A lot of us listen to our hearts with hesitation but I find with daily mindfulness practices, calm prevails a lot more of the time. I’m really embracing surfing the tsunamis with more ease.
Carrying on Mr. Rogers theme, I want to create my neighborhood of peace and joy. That’s where I want to live more of the time.
Probably most of you know what I am about to say. Science is clear that stress is a brain thing because It gets oxygen deprived. In simple terms, when we are anxious or in stress, the breath automatically seizes. Our assignment is to see how cleverly we can navigate managing the brain’s dictates. Mindlessness is not a fun ride.
I think the biggest takeaway from my MBSR training course this spring was confirming how much anxiety is presently in the air all over the world. At the same time, being opinionated, judgmental, critical, and mean to ourselves, are common behaviors often appearing when we’re hurting, angry, or anxious. Heartful courage is required to practice being mindful.
You don’t need special talent, or prior knowledge just simply a willingness to look at yourself with new eyes and question old beliefs and ideas. It’s the choice to listen to our heart-brains (intuition) and put our wellbeing in the foreground and the habits that no longer serve us in the background.
The courage part is trusting your heart so that turning the cube (a brain thing) brings better health, joy, and more peace. Honestly, we seem addicted to DO; the linear brain which is why heads ache (LOL). It takes courage to just BE; the heart is love, the mushy brain (radical self-compassion).
Having a sense of humor and longer lens is essential. Laughing does not make our heads ache and sleep is increasingly peaceful.
“Mindfulness is awareness that comes from the practice of paying attention with kind acknowledgment of our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. With practice, we see more clearly our relationship to the moment and we become empowered to liberate ourselves from suffering.”
— Ginny Wholly, MBSR instructor, business, and leadership consultant
Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in the long-shot.
— Charlie Chaplin, actor, writer
Blessings self-compassion and lovingkindness each day one at a time.