I read a quote from someone from a book about a book about to come out, somewhere. Said quote touched on the idea of using the things that so irritatingly slow us down to…slow down. And to be grateful for the prompt.
The red man at the pedestrian crossing.
A red traffic light.
A queue at the Post Office.
The slow walker.
The delayed train.
We can use such modern irritants as an instant prompt to pause and reflect and sit calmly and look around and breathe deep. And to smile at our little impatient selves. Because there’s nothing like smiling at a little vulnerable, pained, simple version of ourselves to put things into an expansive, settled perspective.
I’ve written before about how smiling at ourselves is a great meditation technique.
So much of the “pain” – physically, psychically and energetically – in my life stems from my neck-strained, forced, rigid “plunging forward” into things.
I plunge forward with my dominant right leg, and have had multiple accidents on the right side of my body as a result.
I’m in a constant state of straining forward with my head, and have incredible issues with my neck (which is relieved whenever I “sit back” and “back the f*ck off”).
My anxiety is very much related to a relentless grasping at the future. I’m often aware that my whole being is impatiently moving onto the next thing, always trying to grab hold of the unknown ahead of me, instead of serenely sitting back and, well, being glad and “knowing”.
I like simple tricks that steer me back to my knowing. Healing and evolving is about simple tricks that prompt us to better habits. One synapse at a time. When it’s simple and everyday, it’s easier to be glad. It’s also easier to see the simplicity of life and how we often get the perfect irritating prompt that we truly need right now.
Don’t you think? What irritating prompt do you swear by?
