tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277044572011-04-21T11:46:40.394-07:00a place for mindfulnessSMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.comBlogger61100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1151456631145762822006-06-27T17:48:00.000-07:002006-06-27T18:06:15.910-07:00One of the things that most distresses me in my current life is the relentless sense of <span style="font-style: italic;">rushing</span>--I always feel as though I have a dozen things that I am supposed to be doing at any given moment, and I can never get it done.<br /><br />I bring this up (besides that fact that this is my blog) because I know this is such a common experience in our culture these days. Everyone is rushed--news shows, magazines, books, all talk about how stressed everyone is, how hurried and harried. They then consult 'experts' about how to slow down, how to take time off, how to relax.........but we are so ridiculous. I actually saw a headline in a magazine trumpeting '30-second meditations' that 'anyone can fit into their schedule' (I'd give the exact reference, but I don't have it, at the moment). How to achieve peace of mind in 10 minutes a day!! Instant roads to enlightenment, the better way to relax, be the first on your block to get stress relief............<br /><br />ack.<br /><br />No question, however, that my near constant state of rushing has me riding on a resentful edge. I need time OFFFFFFFF, I say--I need to be able to slow down, to take a vacation.<br /><br />Then, it occurred to me. The universe is what it is. It doesn't go anywhere without me, so the speed at which I move through it is largely my own doing. <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm</span> the one rushing, in other words. It has never actually been possible to focus on more than one thing at a time--neuroscience tells us that..........<br />so I'm basically burning rubber, wearing out my own shoe leather, running in place.<br /><br />I'm like a 4-year old, lurching and kicking and urging on a plastic horse on a carousel. It's going to go at its own speed; I'm just wearing myself out for nothing.<br /><br />There is only one way to stop rushing, in other words.<br />Just<br /> stop.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-115145663114576282?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1150667431787924842006-06-18T14:42:00.000-07:002006-06-18T14:50:31.796-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5658/2922/1600/fractal%20buddha.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5658/2922/320/fractal%20buddha.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>which, I think, speaks for itself.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-115066743178792484?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1147392462993208302006-05-11T17:02:00.000-07:002006-05-11T17:07:43.000-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5658/2922/1600/Family%20photos%202005%20185.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5658/2922/320/Family%20photos%202005%20185.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Since my other blog seems to be stubbornly broken, I am going to post a photo, here, that I did have up there--my 'vacation spot,' as I called it. A place of joy, and peace, and relaxation. Maybe some day I'll get back to that other site, but for now, I'll bring my peaceful place here:<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-114739246299320830?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1147235758122708002006-05-09T21:29:00.000-07:002006-05-09T21:35:58.130-07:00"Wanting to get out of the pain <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> the pain..."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-114723575812270800?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1147055847050434232006-05-07T19:35:00.000-07:002006-05-07T19:37:27.056-07:00Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith lets go.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-114705584705043423?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27704457.post-1147039269560794702006-05-07T15:00:00.000-07:002006-05-07T15:01:09.570-07:00This moment is a gift; that's why it's called the 'present'.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27704457-114703926956079470?l=eternal-gift.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>SMWeekleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11164145651496876002noreply@blogger.com7