Daily Inspiration 9-28-13

"The way anything is developed

is through practice practice practice

practice practice practice practice practice

practice practice, and more practice."

 

-- Joyce Meyer

I left on Wednesday morning early taking a driving trip to Portland, Oregon to work with a client I haven't seen in quite some time. In round numbers, that trip takes about 10 hours with stops for gas and letting Charlie out to pee on a few trees and bushes. Charlie was my companion on the trip, but he doesn't talk much, so I had to do all the talking, and that wasn't much. It's hard to talk to someone who just stares at you with that cute face and his ears standing tall. I made a cozy little place for him on the seat next to me in my F150 pickup and off we went on an adventure. It's the new Travels With Charlie.

I haven't driven through Oregon in over 30 years and it is more beautiful than I remember and so green compared to California. We had some rain going up off and on but it was an awesome drive. The trip back was mostly sunny and cool, but I got the pleasure of seeing it all over again on Friday.

During the first hour or so of the trip up, I turned the radio on, but only listed to music about 10 minutes and then shut it off. I took two audiobooks along, but the CD player wouldn't recognize them, so I put them away. So, ten hours up and ten hours back, there was the noise of the truck and wind, my occasional speaking to Charlie and the rest was mind-talk.

I've stated before that I am practicing being present, or in-the-moment as much as possible. What that means is that I am paying attention to what my eyes are seeing, perhaps making mental comments about what I am seeing; such as, how beautiful that is, how green it is, how large the country looks, the contrast of blue sky and green land, and the list is endless. All of that is being present. However, I would catch myself thinking of other things, and almost all of those thoughts were of the past.

I might see something that triggered a memory and then the movie would begin to get creative and going in all sorts of directions. In the past, I would have let the movie play, probably would have felt negative emotions about it, moved on to a similar, though not better movie and so on. Now, I am intent on practicing bringing myself back to the present.

So, I would realize I was not present and would say as the mind in charge, "I'm in the past, not the present. I want to be in the present." Then, I would be right back in the present, seeing, being here, safe and free of anxiety, negative feelings and more. When I am in the present, there are no problems.

All my problems are in the past and the future, and all future thoughts are built on the past. It's so much better, calmer, more loving, more fun and enjoyable in the present. And, I have to say, that I got a lot of practice with 20 hours driving with no tunes. It was good. I was in the present a great deal of the time and I thoroughly enjoyed the process and the drive.


If I Decide To And Actually Practice, I Make Progress.

Spread Some Joy Today--Just let yourself be love today. Think loving thoughts of everyone you see today whether you speak or not.