October - Week 3

Meditation/Journal Exercise

As I mentioned in the video, it is very important to see clearly where you are giving your attention in your day to day life. First reflect upon your values. What is most important to you? The people you love, the activities you enjoy and the values you hold dear. It is basically a list of what you want your life to look like. Then you need to take an honest assessment of what is ACTUALLY getting your regular attention. Sometimes we don't have much freedom for how some of our time is spent. But let's focus on the areas where we DO have freedom. Where are you placing your attention? How does it compare with the first list you wrote? This is important because this is YOUR LIFE, made up of fleeting moments all strung together. In other words, it might not seem a big deal to spend 10 minutes here or 20 minutes there on some meaningless thing that isn't very fulfilling, but those minutes add up. For example, a few years ago, I was really saddened to realize that it had been over a year since I had finished reading a book. I had always LOVED reading and learning new things, but I got busy with the Yoga Studio and so many other life demands that reading was the thing that got neglected. Reading is important to me. I read non-fiction to learn new things and to expand my mind. It saddened me to realize that over a year had gone by and I had read just a few chapters, in a whole year. So, that was when I decided that I would set an intention to read for just 10 minutes a day. Ten minutes is a small commitment and very easy to achieve, although admittedly some day went by without reading, BUT other days went by where those 10 minutes turned into 30 very easily. And I am very happy to report that this system has worked well for years now. I average about a book a month, and it makes me happy! I learn new things, I expand my mind. It feels very worthwhile to me. I also set the same goal then for music practice. Just 10 minutes a day. That's not much, but it is enough to keep my skills sharp and gives me 10 minutes (sometimes more) of enjoyment each day. I share this to reemphasize the point that small moments add up to our big life. So take a few moments now to reflect on your values and then compare that list with where you are actually spending your time.

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