As we move towards a new year, many of us will begin to evaluate the old, and make resolutions for the new. I’ve been doing alot of this recently …
JB, over at MorningCoach.com says we need a big “why” to shed old habits and achieve new goals. “Whys” that have little to do with monetary or simple health reasons. The “Why” needs to be deeper than that.
Yesterday, I happened to come upon a beautiful post by Pema Chodron – Shedding Old Habits – from her latest book “Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change.”
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SHEDDING OLD HABITS
“At some point, if you’re fortunate, you’ll hit a wall of truth and wonder what you’ve been doing with your life. At that point you’ll feel highly motivated to find out what frees you and helps you to be kinder and more loving, less klesha driven and confused.
At that point you’ll actually want to be present—present as you go through a door, present as you take a step, present as you wash your hands or wash a dish, present to being triggered, present to simmering, present to the ebb and flow of your emotions and thoughts.
Day in and day out, you’ll find that you notice sooner when you’re hooked, and it will be easier to refrain.
If you continue to do this, a kind of shedding happens—a shedding of old habits, a shedding of being run around by pleasure and pain, a shedding of being held hostage by worldly concerns.”
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Pema’s post also led me to a blog entitled My 86,400 Secs. The author writes about Pema’s excerpt:
It’s a process. Sometimes you see with clarity, and then the fog returns. And with it comes the old habits. You relive the experience and wake up to regret. How many times must I do this before the shedding of old habits firmly takes root? I am learning to be loving to myself when I fall off the path, but still I am disappointed that it came to that. After all, I am in charge of my choices. There isn’t anyone else, even though I love to point fingers and make excuses. It’s all down to me and how I work with external situations that trigger old habits. Sometimes I think I am chasing the illusion of balance and healthy choices — do they really exist? But of course I know they do, as I have had the experience of living them. My infantile self wants to ‘be here now’ and stay here as effortlessly as floating in the womb. But there is always work to do to maintain the equilibrium.
So, back to the work. (You know, chop wood, carry water.)
Have you struggled in this way? Probably so. So how do you do it?
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Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, right?
Each of us has such a bank. It’s name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. How will you use yours today ??
Me? Today I’ll be working on getting Christmas presents out the door. Spencer wishes to start yoga so he’ll be flexible enough for his upcoming skiing trip. He mentioned getting down to the beach to walk or jog at the end of the day. I’m making a crock pot of chili.
Could I make better use of my 86,400 seconds ?? As long as I am present … using mindfulness to push guilt away … the mind that is always there telling me I “should be” doing something “more productive” … then today will be the most enjoyable day I can possibly imagine. Just be. No shoulds.
