If We Don’t Change It, We Choose It.

Happy Monday. I hope you all are doing well. Last week I was finalizing the content for a 6 hour Mindfulness Course I will be teaching at Michael Howard Studios Acting School in Manhattan next week. I decided to share the overall theme of the workshop as my mindful message for the week.  It really boils down to a simple quote; “If we do not change it, we choose it.” 

What is interesting about this idea is that first we need to acknowledge that which we cannot change in our lives and begin to notice how much time we spend thinking and worrying about those things.

From there we can begin to understand all that we CAN change; our thoughts, feelings and responses to whatever comes our way. By mindfully choosing our response, rather than habitually reacting we are able to control much more than we realize. It also begins to become more clear that the time spent worrying about the things we have no control over is at the expense of focusing our energies on what we can control.

We have the opportunity to practice this in small ways each day. One day this week I had stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription I needed to bring with me on my trip. I arrived at the pharmacy at 1:45pm and I saw the sign that it was closed for lunch between 1:30 and 2pm so I had to wait. My first instinct was to be frustrated that I was “wasting” 15 minutes waiting but then I started to think about other things I might need for my trip. I remembered I had wanted to bring a card for a celebration I was going to attend. I had forgotten all about the card until I stood there thinking. I went to the card section, spent a few minutes and found the perfect one. If I had spent those 15 minutes frustrated I had to wait,  I would not have remembered the card.  I could not control that the pharmacy was closed but what was in my control was how I used the time in service to myself. 

 This truly is our power and the more we practice, the better we get. I am so grateful I get to share my journey of practicing with all of you. I hope you have a wonderful couple of weeks. My next newsletter and my next class at Casa Mannabliss will be on August 7th.