Meditation for March 18th, 2016
This Moment
In the path to mindfulness, we try to live moment by moment. We focus on our breath, ignoring thoughts about the past and the future. We concentrate on the task at hand instead of why you have to do the task or what the completion of the task will be like and what you can do after the task. It is hard to live in the moment. Lets look at how to make it easier.
You are not your past.
In this very second, if we ignore who you were, you are an un-interesting person who is not special or unique. Since you don’t have time in this very second to explain to anyone who you used to, you will continue to be boring and common – or basic as the Kardashians say. You can dress a certain way to give me clues, but I could be in a bad mood or have had a history with people dressed in your particular way, so I might dismiss you as a poser or a threat. I might misunderstand your getup. You could talk a certain way, but I might not catch it. You might just have to explain yourself, but why would I want to hear your lousy sad story.
Just be a nice person, be polite and dress like an adult. These are the only three things that will get a thumb up from the general population.
Plans don’t mean shit.
You could talk to me about what you are up to. Unless you are actually doing those things, I don’t know if you are actually going to do those things. Everyone spends a crazy amount of times coming up with the perfect plan for the future where that becomes their identity. I’m the person who goes to school, I’m the person who is working my way up in this company, I am an artist, a writer, a sculptor, a amateur whale hunter, but in the end of the day those things aren’t real until you do them. And just because you do something once doesn’t mean you are that thing forever. When we rest on our laurels, people forget that one awesome thing we did and start to just know you as the person who did a thing one time. Who cares. Do something else.
You are judged on your actions, so nobody is excited that you have intentions of doing anything. It’s also boring to talk about the path somewhere, so shut up till you get there.
Smoke cigarettes.
The only healthy side effect of smoking cigarettes is the ability to just stop what you are doing and be in the moment as you alleviate your craving. People who smoke are better at taking breaks than other people. I don’t smoke anymore and I just sit in the break room staring at my phone and not really knowing if I am relaxing or not. Smokers get to have a five to seven minute ritual.
I guess the same can go with vaping, or smoking other substances because inhaling foreign gasses into your lungs is a great way to learn how to breathe when you meditate.
Stop being mad at them.
A big anchor in moving forward in spiritual harmony is being mad at people, places or institutions that you blame for not being a better person. Stop it you fucking baby. You don’t get to blame your inadequacies on your family of origin, your economical demographic, a group of people that harmed you, Republicans, people who do the thing you do but wrong, or a number of other crutches people use for blaming their lazy ways. These are not only keeping you from bettering yourself, but these are killing you. If you try and try to let these resentments go and they just won’t, then get to therapy because these are making you a stupid weak piece of shit. Ohm and move on.
Stop worrying.
Maybe spend a little less time drafting doomsday scenarios and a little more time being grateful for what you have. It really is okay to be okay. I know that social media, traditional media, the people in your life and just your plain old overthinking head are letting you know that this world is going to shit along side your own feelings of being worthless, but things are actually okay. I promise. Even if you have cancer and are going to chemo, things are okay. Pain does not mean that you are not okay. Not having pain does not mean that you are not okay. Trump becoming the Republican nominee for President of these United States of America does not mean you are not okay. Batting zero on Tinder dates does not mean you are not okay. It just means you will have some obstacles and the rest of us know that life is hard work and sometimes shitty, but we just do what we do.
Prayer
Lord Jesus of Nazareth – the place not the gnarly 70s band
What if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning?
What if I get fired tomorrow?
What if my significant other breaks up with me?
What if you are one of us?
What if I’m late to work?
What if I did something wrong yesterday at work?
What if I accidently wear my grey sweatshirt with my grey pants?
What if I wake up tomorrow and think that tucking a white t-shirt into my jeans with no belt is okay?
What if I hadn’t moved and stayed in school that one time?
What if I am standing there at work and I just shit myself?
What if my family actually hates me?
What if no one thinks I’m funny?
What if there is an asteroid the size of Texas, but not as religiously motivated, and it is heading straight to Earth?
What if there are spiders in my bed?
What if ninjas have a contract on my head?
What if people realize who I really am and stop liking me?
What if I never feel okay?
What if I have to move somewhere far away?
What if I die by being beheaded by a chain linked to a lock that a cyclist decides to take his or her rage out on me with?
What if I forget how to drive the next time I’m in a driver’s seat?
What if my significant other is sleeping with someone else?
What if my s/o isn’t attracted to me anymore?
What if my s/o wants to have a long-term relationship with a close friend of mine?
What if Cruz becomes president because I voted for Bernie instead of Hillary?
What if Trump becomes president because I voted for Hillary instead of Bernie?
Craft
Let’s look at minimizing your life, shall we?
See that shit in your closet? Throw it away.
See the shirts that you never wear in the shirt drawer? Tear those up and use em as rags.
See those pants that don’t fit anymore because you got too fat? Give em away!
See the cool guy button downs you don’t wear because you ain’t going to the discotheques anymore? Burn them!
You never play guitar anymore? Sell them! You already read those books? Burn them at the next Bernie rally! You just bought those records so people would think you were cool when they came to your place? Give them to actual cool people. Do you really need all those hats? Even the fedoras? Get rid of them!
Live like a monk. Only have what you need. Stop collecting things. What is the good of a collection if you’re dead? Huh? Dead. You don’t need the things if you are dead. D-E-A-D dead. Six feet underground, a pile of ashes or at the bottom of a reservoir somewhere; it doesn’t matter if you have all the comics or all the records because you are dead. You are not alive. The living now has to decide what to do with all this shit. You are mean and selfish if you think it’s okay to leave a bunch of lamps or vintage jackets you never wore for your family and friends to go through when you have died and ceased to exist.
Goal
Try and be here right now instead of there or there. Stop having stuff. You’ll be happy. Thank me by giving me money. I just solved all your problems.