Clearing the water in the glass

I am leaving things to the last minute again. 

I am writing on a Wednesday, but it is the last minute for me. 

Not only am I writing a blog, I am proofing some material for a member of the team, I am also preparing a slide deck for NZREC that is due Friday. The thing is I am out Thursday and Friday, Thursday for work, and Friday for myself. 

So it is the last minute. 

It is midday and I want all three tasks completed by 3pm. That’s the goal. Because I still have calls to make and no doubt by then there will be other items to attend to. 

What I have to achieve is well within the bounds of what I can do with some quiet and uninterrupted focussed time.

The problem is that as I settle in to write, my mind thinks of another important thing that I need to do. ‘Urgent’ I tell myself. I resist the urge to pick up my phone, or to jump into my Inbox.

These things just have to wait. 

I settle for turning my phone to silent and making some notes beside me on a scrap of paper.

Call Stuart. Follow up Danielle. Respond to Steve. They can all wait until after 3. 

What is plain to me is that just now when it comes to my attention I am all over the place. Over the past few months work has been great, family life on point, and I am really happy to have gotten back into the gym and paying close attention to my health after a few lax months. 

But what is slipping? 

Some of that reflective time. To be even more honest, some of that meditative time.  

By meditative time I am not talking about visualisation, I am not talking about mantras and self-talk. I am talking about finding mental stillness. Clearly a challenge for me just now. 

I want to share with you one of the most profound analogies that I have heard when it comes to the role of meditation, should we choose to follow this path. 

The analogy likened our mind to a glass of cloudy coloured water. Let’s say cloudy brown water. 

Meditation is likened to pouring a small amount of crystal clear water into that glass. The water in the glass gets a little clearer. Maybe at first not even noticeably. But as you continue to add fresh water, the water in the glass gradually clears. The regular (daily if possible) practice of meditation is like adding that clear water to your cloudy mind. 

This is probably what I need right now. Correction. This is what I need right now. 

I make no attempt to hide that I use this weekly blog to help me with my thoughts – stepping through my process in the hope that it helps you with your thoughts. Getting this written down helped me see just exactly what I need to do – so thanks! 

I don’t expect to hear of a tranche of real estate agents suddenly becoming Yogis, however I do urge you to take this time to consider what it is in your life that needs addressing. 

It is pretty easy to mask a whole lot of need with a whole lot of busyness. In the meantime our health, our relationships, and our clarity of mind and purpose can suffer. 

So if you choose, you might take this as a little nudge to have a check in, see what is out, and see whether any of this makes any sense to you. 

Have a great week out there.