A Mission to Sit

Breathe,

that’s all I’m asking of myself,

to breathe in the moment:

a whole plethora of sounds,

pictures:

someone’s talking,

the wind chime chimes,

the roar of a truck,

and a scooter,

there’s a car,

two of them;

Breathing…

Crazy pictures,

colourful and real,

voices so close,

they take me away with them,

by the hand;

so easy to be lead astray.

Breathe…

A serene moment of calm,

a deep dive into the depths,

an encompassing space,

…

Then memories long forgotten;

fears not realised,

(the realised ones bring a smile).

Meaningless conversations,

some real, most not,

some I wish I’d had,

others I regret having.

Someone’s coughing.

Breathe…

Straighten the spine,

pull back the shoulders,

scrunch the carpet with my toes,

swallow;

take a deep breath,

let’s see if we can try this again;

Breathe,

that’s all I’m asking of my self,

to breathe in the moment.

***

I’ve been practicing meditation and mindfulness for seventeen years – that’s nearly half of my life. Yet the mind still does what it does best: distracts from the present moment.

If you’re finding it hard to meditate, to quieten the mind, take comfort in the fact that everyone who meditates is going through the very same thing you are.

Just because the mind is thinking doesn’t mean you can’t meditate, or that meditation isn’t for you.

You have a mind—it thinks.

It will make a ruckus because that’s what it does. It’s our job to watch it, not to stop it… just to watch it, and then observe what arises from the watching.

Peace,

Gavin