Staying The Course

The lessons and gifts twice-daily meditation has taught me are priceless and something I will continue each day as a non-negotiable aspect of my personal development. Training your brain is just as important (if not more) as training your body, and fueling it with the proper foods. Meditation, to me, is the soul food of all soul foods. Meditation is my medication. I will share with you a few huge discoveries I made while staying the course.
 
Making time for my spiritual practice and personal development daily has taught me to honor what I need. I have been able to not only be still enough to identify the acts that bring me peace and calm but to also follow through with the completion of these acts to put my soul at rest. Knowing when to say “no” and being ok, without guilt, has been huge. It’s not always easy to know when to retreat. We as humans are continually overextending ourselves past our energy levels to fit one more activity in a day. I have found it to be quite empowering to be able to say, “tonight I’m going to take sometime for myself,” and then do it. I sometimes need that quiet time alone to read, take a salt bath, write or just unplug from the day and pace of my life. When I need a run outside, I know to take it. When I need to get to the salt water to heal my soul, I know to go there. Being still has taught me what to do, when I need to do it, and then to actually do it. Being quiet with myself has taught me to feel so much deeper than what my eyes can see in this world. Instead of seeing and perceiving in this world I can now feel this world on a whole new level and meditation has proven to be everything it was promised to be and more. Giving myself permission to do the things I need to honor my spirit, to walk my own path, without apologies or guilt, is turning me into a woman I am grateful to become.
 
With this practice of stillness and silence daily, I have learned to be more aware of my thoughts. I sometimes wonder if other people require as much vigilance where their thoughts are concerned (there go my thoughts again, it’s a practice)? I have become the guardian of my thoughts. The mind is an active and creative, muscle that just loves to generate “stuff”. Most of the stuff it generates is not real. It’s an illusion created by our experiences and perceptions. This new awareness of my thoughts has taught me not to judge what thoughts are occurring but to just notice they are occurring and then let them pass. I would say these days I’m talking less and listening more because people and life are interesting. Living this way, I see that life gives me the exact experience I need practice in at any given moment. Talking all the time just blocks the lessons from being heard as easily. I would say I use my words a bit more thoughtfully now. I have found if I talk less it is easier to discern whether or not I am having an interaction with a person’s spirit or their ego. I prefer the spirit connection to any other.
Staying the course means that no matter what obstacle is thrown at me I can be sure that my commitment to meditation will provide me with a foundation of adequate mind training to handle being thrown in life’s frying pan. I may still fry but I won’t burn near as bad as if I had no mind training at all. I will also recover much quicker than any person not practicing this invaluable tool. When life becomes hectic, speeds up or even for that matter slows to a crawl, I stay the course. I continue to practice my spiritual stillness in the morning and at night, when I am away, over sleep, or life throws me a curve. Being able to commit to myself shows me I can commit to anyone or anything, indefinitely. I have discovered new depths of my soul. I have now been exposed to perseverance and inner resolve I never knew existed within me until now. Through daily commitment to my spiritual practice I have grown and continue to develop and transform on my path of holistic wellness. Each day is a miracle, an adventure and an epic experience available to anyone who is willing to stay the course.
 
XOXOXO