July 2013
Welcome --
"...the fall will probably
kill you!"
(Butch Cassidy to the Sundance Kid)
One of the best cinematic duos to ever grace the screen:
Paul Newman and Robert Redford in their early prime -- not just easy on the eyes, but a great example of staying in the present vs. succumbing to the "what ifs?".
Here they are, literally on the edge of a cliff, no escape but to jump into raging waters below, cornered by the expert posse chasing them, and Sundance would rather stand their ground and shoot it out instead of dealing with the fact that he can't swim ....... Butch brings him right back to the present moment by reminding him that that is the least of their concerns.
How often are we caught up in our mind chatter of worries -- If / then conditional reflexes to what I call the "past or future imperfect"? We spin fantastic tableaux of what might happen if. We rush past the reality of the moment and all the rich info it has to offer, skip over meaningful details, not honoring the present moment, unable to take in what's truly happening.
Pretty noisy, isn't it? -- and that's the distinct quality of them -- the mental conversations with Your Self, all the fearful thoughts, the spinning energy of these what ifs ...
Recently, I've started in my personal practice to remind myself that if I'm out of the moment, fussing about what might or might not happen, in the thick of my mind chatter, I'm able to take a perverse sort of comfort in knowing that ultimately, these worries won't come to pass.
And the course of action when you find Your Self here?
Stop.
Breathe.
Allow a smile as you gently bring yourself
back to Your Self.
Get to know the chatter of your "what ifs".
Take heart in knowing these "what ifs"
aren't accurate.
We all have bouts of "what ifs
". The deeper practice involves allowing them to help us build up an immunity to the very thing they are offering, by staying present and daring to experience what's really happening in any given moment.
Or, as a friend of mine says:
"Don't let the what ifs hinder your
appreciation of the what ares."