The practice: begin again
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” Buddha
Daily Reflection: As a dear friend often reminds me, “There is a beginning, a middle, and an end… followed by a new beginning.” I don’t know about you, but I keep hoping for a new beginning in 2021. As the calendar strikes January 1st each year, it easy to get into the mindset of a fresh start. But this mindset, this transformative skill, is something we can practice each and every day. We human have the amazing capacity to be reborn each morning at breakfast. We get to decide who and how we wish to be each and every day. We also get as many do overs, for mess up’s and mistakes, as we “gift” ourselves. We can let go of whatever we are holding onto (mistakes, wrongs, resentments, judgments, anger and fear) and begin again. And maybe as we begin again, we bring in a quality of heart: kindness, compassion, forgiveness and understand to make this practice healing and transformative.
How many times each day could you put this skill into use? If you really take time to be present, the opportunities to practice beginning again is endless… with the breath, with our thoughts and stories, with challenging or difficult emotions, with our speech and our actions, with ourselves and with others. A spiritual life is never about holding on, it is always about letting go… and beginning again. The healing is in the return.
“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Meditation Challenge: Each time we sit to meditate, we are present with an opportunity to practice and deepen the skill of beginning again. In meditation, we sit, steadying our awareness into the present moment, and at some point (often times very soon thereafter) the mind will wander. At this moment of recognition, we 1) meet the wandering mind with compassion and understanding (rather than judging ourselves for “doing it wrong”) and 2) we begin again, letting go and coming back to present moment. We may even offer ourselves the gentle note of “welcome back” as a begin again, bringing forth a kind attitude to this process. A process that we engage over and over again.
So today bring the sincere intention of beginning again to your meditation practice. We practice and hone this skill on meditation cushion, so we utilize it in our daily lives… the transformational practice of beginning again.
“Wholeness is never lost; it is only forgotten.” Rachel Naomi Remen
