Your Dharma is You

I did a post on social media about this but it bears repeating. My genius, now retired Doctor, Sheena Brannigan said that every hour that you are willing to give away to work, it is willing to take from you. She was and is a really wise Dr. and I miss her. She was right. I constantly delude myself that once I get this todo list done, I will stop and play. I say deluded because once I am down to three items on that list, I've started on a new one. I don't stop. I don't play. This needs to change.

I think some of this is my nature and some of this is my age but then add a splash of global crises, unprecedented in nature and you've got my head spinning like a child's whirlybird. How can I sit down when every chair is prickly with the current world events?

This is where I know that my vocation is my salvation. Each morning when I get onto my mat, I stop. My practice is quite low key right now as I take time to find myself in the quagmire that is multiple todo lists. I literally say in my head "hi! How are you doing today?" Now if that doesn't make me look a little off, I'm not sure what will. But the frenzy is forcing me to practice like never before. I am being directed by a power like that of a raging river, to get present, patient and to play. I think I've just had enough of it all and realize that no one is going to beg me to play. I need to make it happen. I need to walk over to the playground and start a slow and steady swing, hair in the breeze. I simply need to stop because I am the only one who can make that happen. It is an illusion that this is risky or that I will let someone down if I don't answer an email on Sunday. How ridiculous is that?

The gift of this time of extreme disempowerment is the realization that you, I, we are in control of this (picture me pointing at my heart). This is the thing that you need to tend. This is the thing that needs to direct my day. I need to choose the health of me, the gift of my incarnated self and this is entirely up to me. A daily practice, whether it is meditation, a walk in nature, yoga or walking your dog or pet iguana, must be our biggest priority. This is the thing that you do every day to take an hour AWAY from work. Take an hour AWAY from your todo list. Take an hour FOR you and say "Hi! How are you?" And then (and here is the kicker) design or redesign your day according to the answer. Yup. For real.

Your dharma, your purpose is to tend this (see above for pointing position). That's it. Get loving you. Make you your biggest priority because it is time.

See you on the swings. Hey can you give me a little push?