Monday Mindfulness Minute: Can you see the sunflower in the sunflower seed?

"...charity is a way of perceiving the perfection of another even if you cannot perceive it in yourself... it's a way of looking at another as if they had already gone far beyond their actual accomplishments in time." A Course in Mircales p. 27

It blows my mind to contemplate how vessels as tiny and seemingly dull as seeds contain the potential to grow into beautiful flowers and mighty trees. Consider a sunflower seed for instance. Could you imagine the surprise on the Native Americans' faces when they compared the sunflower seed with what it could become?

Examples abound in nature of seemingly tiny things containing mighty potential or things that appear to be dull turning into beautiful stories. So, why do we seem to forget that the same holds for us and those around us?

Of course, it's much easier to judge somebody for where they are, what we deem to be the truth from our limited vantage point, and then lock them into that position. But this would be the same as throwing out the sunflower seed because it wasn't "beautiful." It might not be beautiful yet, but it contains beauty. We/they might not have it figured out yet, but the answer is somewhere inside of us/them.

Let us consider this week how we may limit ourselves and those around us (family, friends, neighbors, etc) because we are limiting them to what we see in front of us instead of the potential that is within them. Let's extend some grace and trust the natural flow of life that magically got us to this point from a cell smaller than a seed.

Monday Mindfulness Minute: "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I'm wise, so I'm changing myself."

With the New Year comes a renewed focus on self-growth. Whether we hope to make a more consistent effort at the gym, reduce frivolous spending to achieve our saving goal, or make a concerted effort to put our family first, we know our success will hinge on consistency.

But what fuels consistency? And why does the fuel needed to maintain our resolution seem to run out after only a few weeks?

One of the biggest hidden inhibitors to achieving our goals to start the year, and throughout, is that we absent-mindedly expend our energy trying to control those around us (the "changing the world" part in Rumi's quote above). As Mel Robbinson relays in her new book The Let Them Theory, "Instead of wasting my energy on something I can't control - what others say, think, and do - I poured my energy into what I can control: me. The result? I gained more control over my own life than I ever had before."

Letting them ranges from the small things like letting them not do the dishes or letting them cut you off in traffic, to bigger things like letting your friends not invite you to go out with them or letting your best friend leave you on read via text. As should be apparent, we can't stop them in the first place, so we save our energy by our response being one of acceptance. This doesn't mean we don't respond to them directly eventually, but when/if we need to, we do so in a mindful way where we aren't giving all of our energy.

As we return to the office and to our general flow of life following the Holiday Break, let us let them more—they are going to do what they want to do anyway—and save our breath and energy to invest in our fuel tank to achieve the goals we have set.

Monday Mindfulness Minute: Practice More Than You Preach

“We influence others by what we are rather than by what we say or have.” Eye of the I p. 105

We know by now that what we say and do can be miles apart. We have the best intentions for ourselves and others in thought and sharing, but are we truly practicing what we're preaching?

There is a great story about Gandhi that illustrates how he practiced before he preached. One day he was approached by a mother and her son. The mother was disappointed with her son and how much sugar he consumed, so she pleaded with Gandhi to instruct him to stop eating so much. Pausing, Gandhi asked them to return in a few days.

When they returned a few days later, the mother relayed her request again. This time, Gandhi looked at the son and told him to stop eating so much sugar because it was bad for his health. Perplexed, the mother asked Gandhi what had caused his change of heart from a few days ago. "A few days ago, I had not given up sugar."

While we most certainly want what's best for our loved ones and friends, we know that any advice we give and aren't living comes off as hollow and is ultimately ineffective.

The mind is a tricky place because it easily confuses thinking/talking about something, preaching, with actually doing it. The mind can never take action so it feels that talking about it is its action. Let us pause this week and ask ourselves if we've lived the knowledge we are trying to pass on to others.

Practice more, then we can let our life be our preaching. As Gandhi lived, "My life is my message."