Monday Mindfulness Minute: It's always something

"Most people's lives are cluttered up with things: material things, things to do, things to think about. Their lives are like the history of humanity, which Winston Churchill defined as "one damn thing after another." A New Earth p. 227

"It's always something!!!" How many times have we said this? How many times this week have we said this? How many times today have we said this? How often do we hear others say it? 

We plan out our days/weeks/months/years and the inevitable disruption occurs. It's always something.  

The dog poops on the floor. It's always something.  

The car gets a flat tire on our way to the important meeting. It's always something.  

The kid gets sick right before vacation. It's always something.  

We must consider how we say, "It's always something." Do we say it in a relaxed and calm tone, or is it a desperate plea for the unexpected thing that just happened to get resolved as quickly as possible? I know for me it's usually the latter.  

But isn't that the joy of living life? It's literally always something. Every day new things are happening. Every day we get to meet new people. Every day we set out a plan and get to figure out what to do when it inevitably doesn't go to plan. Is there a way we can appreciate it always being something instead of viewing it as a pain?  

In the situation where the dog poops on the floor are we able to be grateful to even have a dog and have the opportunity to learn about unconditional love?

You get a flat tire. How many people in this world aren't able to drive cars? How far has that tire brought you already? 

How fortunate are you to have a child to begin with? 

What do we want it to be instead of always something? Always nothing? What if those somethings are where we experience learning and growth? What if our freedom is found in those somethings? How alive would it feel if that "something" brought an ecstatic feeling of love and mystery instead of dread?

Our opportunity this week is to catch when we or others say "it's always something." This doesn't mean when we hear someone else say it we preach to them that they should be grateful ("Idiot, of course it's always something. What else would it be?). Instead, we can view this as a gift that has been presented to us to remember to embrace unexpected and uncomfortable situations. It's a beautiful reminder that can pull us from our day-to-day melodramas to remind us to appreciate the miracle of being alive on this planet experiencing something at all.