The first step of a wonderful journey

The first day is the easiest…

That’s how it feels anyway.

I got back from another unfinished endeavour: a meditation retreat I had been encouraged to go along to. The teacher had told me I was going to have to leave, after I had told him that I couldn’t sleep and hadn’t slept properly for the past four nights.

I understood, and practising this newfound mindfulness I responded delicately, without pressing my personal desire to stay for the remaining 6 days.

So I got a ride to the local train station, and from there made my way to the airport.

My good friend R. had taken the time out of his day to come and pick me up, and what would happen next would set my life on a new course.

We got to chatting about my time at the retreat (R. was the one who had encouraged me to go, more on this later), and stopped into a burger joint for some dinner.

Inside I told him the mindfulness I had cultivated made me want to make changes in my life, serious changes. “I want to have a better life, to become a better person”, I confided in him.

R. knew what to do. He smiled and after we had taken our meals back to his place and finished them off he finally countered me on this decalaration: “So… How serious are you about changing your life?” He stood as he wiped his mouth from the meal.

Even with my injured knee (Story to come) I stood up to attention to face him, half-jokingly I even saluted; he got the point. And my eagerness paid off.

We spent the next day planning out my routines and goals.

That was yesterday.

What happened today?

I woke up in my own bed, finally.

I did a lot more housework than I would have previously. it makes sense now, these are foundational skills. One cannot progress into more subtle or nuanced realms until these things have been mastered.

I listened to a playlist I had made yesterday that made the chores seem enjoyable, even if previously, I simply would have put them off becuase I got a “bad” sensation or the grandiose idea that I had better things to do.

The truth is simple: You can’t do better than making positive progress the simple things you are getting wrong consistenly.

Signing off

- E.