If I stop…I’ll drop. There’s no better way to explain how my engine works.
Unlike a car that softly purrs at your fifteenth red light in ten minutes or a cargo ship that shoots through algae stained ocean waves that reach to the sky to grab sunshine then shares each ray with the murky sandy floor below…I push and push until a brick breaks in the wall so tall only to discover there’s less and less air to breathe so I elect to sleep.
You know there’s something wrong with America when the cost of power drinks is more expensive than a tall icy cold can of beer.
I arrived an hour early at Tae Kwon Do… “Perfect!” I thought to myself, “I’ve been gifted with the opportunity to grab the Kindle and read. No! I’ll hit this button so it can read to me.”
Out I went.
On a ninety three degree day, a passerby took note of a middle aged man slouched over in the front seat of a parked car that had been idling for over thirty minutes…
Tap, tap, tap on the driver’s side window, “Sir is everything alright,” the neatly dressed police officer asked.
The ordeal reminded me of a story Thick Nhat Hahn shared in his book The Art of Power. He describes the Power of Mindfulness as being an energy source governed by the minds eye being connected to the present moment. When you are fully present, you are fully alive which invites incredible natural energy to the events that keep you ticking.
A great example: A weekend family BBQ, you feverishly bust tail to make the day in the sun as close to perfection one’s tiny heart can design…the moment its over…you can’t remember flopping down on the sofa to land in a classic well deserved two hour cat nap. By being in the moment your system created energy…once set free, the idea of capturing another breath of fresh air was completely out of the question.
The Power of Mindfulness helps you know what you should do and more importantly what you shouldn’t do. Think about it…although laws state that we aren’t supposed to text while driving, most do. What is your body’s natural reaction when caught up in a story? Rest, relaxation, sleep...
Mindfulness or putting energy in the present moment helps you avoid difficulties and mistakes; it protects you.
Thick Nhat Hahn writes: Mindfulness means recognizing things for what they are. I left the car on to feel the chilly air conditioning. If I had fallen into a deeper sleep and cuddled up to the gearshift, I might have slipped the car into a different gear shooting it forward. I was no longer in control.
Although I recognized something positive in getting the rare opportunity to have sixty minutes to read, nourished weren’t the elements of the moment. If I was in a city park under a tree, everything would’ve been beautiful…but my decision was to read on a blazing hot summer day in a parking lot located in a not too decorated part of town…by releasing myself from reality I set too many things in motion that could’ve gone wrong.
Sure it controlled my mental ability to pay attention in class! A police officer was called to check out Sleeping Beauty. Ha! The lack of Mindfulness created a negative but that didn’t require the day to be over. Through the same lessons taught by Mr. Hahn, one who suffers from anger, such as Mel Gibson and his latest adventures in the Paparazzi, by exercising the Power of Mindfulness, being aware of the current moment, all things that come across as ill-fated and torn can easily locate peace.
Our connection to money destroys mindfulness. The ways we make it then quickly spend it totally takes us off track, destroying our true dreams which are connected to the multitudes of others along for the ride.
When we walk, we don’t walk…our legs carry us. We are not free. The hardest thing to digest are the chapters of our personal pasts. Try this the next time: Live in the present by recognizing what’s currently making up the moment. From where I sit at this very moment I don’t see layers of work waiting for me to create…the slow rising sun from the eastern sky is lighting up the trees begging to be seen outside the radio station window. Butterflies dart through the air like a wild rollercoaster ride while a woodpecker attempts to shove its head into weathered bark where termites are watching Howie Mandel wait until the last four seconds to announce the winner on America’s Got Talent.
Life isn’t moving fast…you are. There’s always been 24 hours on the clock and the ticks that make up a minute don’t move any faster than what they did in the year 285 A.D.
In radio, there are very few who live in the present; we’re deeply addicted to the future. No on-air jock thinks of the now, it’s always twenty minutes from now, after the next song, two hours from now, from timing into the news, to getting mentally prepared to shake hands and kiss babies with the public at an event three days away...being available for the present has never been that important. Show prep is done to serve as a map but once you get there…you’ve entered a completely different state. That’s why the majority of the interns who step into this world bolt before their 400 hours…there’s nothing real inside the four walls that make up our plastic smiles because what we accomplish is not done in real time.
I don’t know how many times I’ve come off the air feeling like I’ve been onboard a nonstop overnight five hour flight to California. One step off the giant jet and its like, “Wow! Where’s that Carolina heat and humidity?”
Have fun with Mindfulness, don’t beware your present. Be aware of it. It’s amazing what you’ll discover while being in touch with those you love. Live in the energy that invites you back to being yourself…and I’ll stop sleeping in running cars on hot summer days in not so safe neighborhoods. It’s asking a lot but oh well…through mindfulness you can finally locate happiness.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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