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Today's
Meditation:
Without pointing any fingers, I believe that these
words apply to many more people than would like to admit
it. I've seen people who are constantly overstressed
and constantly edgy and frustrated make the claim that
they're enjoying life, even though almost nothing that
they do is by choice--they have to do it for work or for
for school or to fulfill some obligation or another.
And they certainly don't look or sound like they're
enjoying life.
This is such a personal issue, though, that it becomes a
matter of reflection. Some people enjoy being
busy. For some people, a busy life is a full and
fulfilling life. I say, more power to them.
But all of us have to ask ourselves frankly a simple
question: am I enjoying my life? And then we
have to answer that question completely honestly, and if
the answer is "no," then we need to do something
about that fact.
There are ways to cut down on our busyness. The word
"no" is very effective when we're asked to be on
yet another committee or serve for yet another
function. And if there are already four people at
the bake sale on Saturday, do they really need a
fifth? Some days, just deciding to go straight home
from work and taking a much-needed walk in a park could be
just what the doctor ordered--an enjoyable activity that
gets us out in the fresh air and gets our blood flowing.
Sometimes, we're not even aware that we're enjoying
ourselves. Perhaps that's where the most important
ability of all lies--in recognizing our own
enjoyment. Awareness of our own enjoyment is a great
gift to us, and that awareness is within our reach; we do
have to make an effort to become aware, though, and our
mindfulness of our enjoyment will be a wonderful reward
for that effort.
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