Ok…you elected to show up for work. Getting completely caught up is a different story. You’re there…enough said…right? During an average day, how often do you putt up the hallway to fetch a pail of water? Wait that’s me gulping that much clear stuff.
Walking…how much walking do you do around the office, at home after work or during the weekend when life has delivered you a 48 hour period of nothingness but to physically focus on it would mean you’ve truly done nothing and you start to feel guilty?
This is my new game: I can name those twenty questions in two notes.
Spent some time last evening walking in out and around downtown—while most enjoy gazing at unforgettably tall skyscraping mountains or evenly paced waves crashing against Carolina shores connected to harbors, lakes and other big, big bodies of water; I locate peace in the fine art of people watching.
I’m completely fascinated with the way people walk; there are no two strides the same. You have every right to impersonate, emulate and or carry your leg like your parents when they were you’re age but in the end, just like the prints on your hand…unique and one of a kind are the name of the walking game.
What I find interesting is the way we walk. Look beyond the rush, rush of your own world and you too will quickly notice that outside of a few middle aged mall walkers, placing the right foot in front of the left may look, smell and appear to be walking but in reality…you are carrying.
When you carry…you are not free. Free means letting go and or no longer holding onto.
Your mind is completely clogged with a past you can’t change, change you’d love to shove into a parking meter but to stop because it would require change, nobody likes change so you keep carrying.
More time is spent regretting the past then pursuing fifteen minutes of happiness. Seriously! Look around you! Grumble mumble, kick stumble, we buy brand new because its like changing shoes, the goal is to create enough wind to sack the black cloud above your head; the one that’s easily convinced you of having the world’s worst day and luck.
Practice the power of getting back to yourself.
Oh oh…that sounds pretty darn selfish in a world led by parental figures and Grandparents that force us to share or else. Interestingly enough, when the decision is made to come back to yourself, the rocks and moss that once kept water from spilling over the banks on the mountains you keep in your heart tend to become fresh again, sending shivers of oh wow and neat oh skeet oh through your system of acceptance.
Julia Roberts is set to return to the screen in a film based on a single woman searching for the right man and what she discovers while uncovering is herself. Any act of mindfulness is far better than licking your lips and decorating your tongue with two freshly opened BC Powders.
Paul McCartney unknowingly demonstrated mindfulness last night at his show. The Mozart of our time spoke softly of how difficult it is to play a musical instrument and remember the lyrics of songs while fans are waving banners in the stands. He knows how much energy went into each piece of your art only to realize his creations face defeat if mindfulness isn’t practiced…so he’s trained himself to look forward.
Concentration is the key to the missing link in the monkey chain.
Don’t just drink Southern sweet tea…enjoy it; nourishing yourself with something you find pleasure in gifts your present moment with a positive and not the hell bent past that honestly means nothing to anybody but the self you keep staring at in the mirror.
Concentration is used as a knock on the door…it introduces your dreams to breakthrough. Depression, despair and fear break up their 24/7 poker game and head for the open window.
When was the last time you truly concentrated? On something other than what you did in high school and the chapters you kind of agreed to put together while in your twenties. Concentration teaches us to be aware of the present while taking fear out of the future.
McCartney performed a song that he had written after John Lennon had passed. The songwriter/performer explained that he always wanted to say something to his one time partner in art, “I love you…”
Tomorrow is always going to be too late. As much as we complain about the voices in our head, truth is…we are not separated selves. Concentration is the tool you find when not trying to buy. It’s the hand that seems to reach out and hold yours when in doubt. Concentration is a Hollywood movie played like a world premiere and your walk down the red carpet is savored like chocolate meeting taste buds.
Concentration leads to insight…maybe its time we stop carrying our day and locate better and easier ways to walk.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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