Where are you going?

Life is a journey. Yet with all the demands of daily life, it's easy to get thrown off course.

I’ll admit I’ve been overwhelmed by demands from all directions, pushing my creative writing to the side. I’d had lots of reasons--excuses really—classes, committees, research deadlines, and a morass of mundane chores.

A few days ago, my university hosted two creative writers from Nebraska, Bud Shaw and Rebecca Rotert-Shaw, whose compelling readings and insights lit a fire in my heart. I still have that same pile of excuses. But now I see that as long as I keep telling myself that I “don’t have time to write,” I'll stay stuck in excuses and won’t have time to write.

We have a choice. In graduate school, I loved studying Renaissance writers, inspired by their  empowering affirmation of free will: we have a choice. We always have a choice. Our actions in life follow our attention. If we focus our attention on all the reasons we can’t:  write, create, follow our dreams, then we’re stuck in the world of can’t.

We shift into a dynamic new paradigm when we turn from feeling victimized by externals to ask, “What can I do?” Then the door starts to open, a shaft of light enters, illuminating our choices, lighting the way.

To make this paradigm shift for yourself, take a few moments now to:

• Center yourself by mindfully breathing in and out.
• Let yourself watch the procession of thoughts and feelings swirling by.
• If you get hooked by one, take a deep breath.
• Return to mindful breathing.
• Ask yourself, “What can I do?”
• At the end of your meditation, write in your journal. Without thinking, let the words flow. Follow the deep, authentic voice within you, casting light on new choices, revealing the next step on your journey.
• You always have a choice.

Namaste,

Diane