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Have you ever:

Tried to develop a good habit?

But….

Gotten distracted?

Been in resistance to your next step?

Become nervous?

Then lost your car keys?

You know what?  Me too!  All of the above.

Early last week, I resolved to be more mindful than ever before.  For myself, I define mindfulness as paying attention to my breath, to the physical sensations in my body, and to what I can notice right around me with my five senses.

My goal in cultivating this habit is to stay present and find peace in the moment, instead of becoming lost in my thoughts that so often tell me:

1)  To worry
2)  That I don’t have enough time
3)  That I can’t do whatever I’m trying to accomplish
4)  To worry some more

Yep, if I follow my thoughts I can go down a rabbit hole and end up on Pluto, which was so much more fun when it was actually considered a planet.

Speaking of things getting lost.   A few days AFTER I made my resolution to be more mindful, I was strolling around Balboa Park, an enormous park in the middle of San Diego, with a friend.  After our walk, we sat down on a bench and talked for awhile longer.  The subject was expanding my business.

After that my friend had to go, so I went on a bit of an additional walk because I still had energy.  When I got home I reached in my pocket….and no car keys.  Trying to be mindful of my urge to panic, I went back to the store where I had just gotten a piece of fruit.  The cashier shook his head discouragingly when I asked about car keys!

Great!  I had walked for two or three miles total.  My keys could be ANYWHERE along our route.

Are you starting to get a sinking feeling?

I was beginning to plan the easiest, least costly and time consuming way to replace all my keys and the options didn’t look good.  Luckily, I had the presence of mind to think that I might have taken my keys out of my pocket and laid them on the bench while we were talking.  So I walked quickly back to the bench in Balboa.

No car keys…. Oh no!

BUT
there was a note tape to the bench that said,

“HONDA LOST KEYS@
VISITOR CTR.
IN PARK!”

Looking back on it, I realize I was in resistance to the business step my friend and I were talking about-  Contacting colleges about speaking opportunities.

In the upset of my resistance, I wasn’t thinking about the basics, like my car keys.

Yet, a miracle of stranger’s kindness made up beautifully for my distraction and lack of attention.

My habit of mindfulness?  Still very much a work in progress.  And sometimes the progress is mighty slow.

When we set out to develop good habits, there’s often a big learning curve, sometimes the road to learning feels like going up a curvy mountain road on a pitch black night.

Yet, we are not alone on this curvy, windy, twisty and turny journey called life. We are going through this thing called “trying to live the best lives we know how” to together.

 

 Life is so much more vast than our worries, our distractions, and lost car keys.

 

Life is all of us.  Together we can create peace in the moment.

 

 

 

Jason’s book, Awkwardly Awesome: Embracing My Imperfect Best,  is available on Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback formats!

Click Here to Get It!