I was caught by the flu last weekend. It came out of the blue; I had been feeling great and the weather couldn’t have been better. San Diego, CA almost always has a summer breeze.
Isn’t it amazing how a simple virus can reduce a human being to a sniveling, panting heap of pain and discomfort? You can feel miserable enough to see your death staring at you; some viruses do kill. One positive thing about getting sick is that it can give you some perspective; it points out to us the impermanence of all life. All we have is the moment we live.
The flu made me think about the most important thing we can have…
Our actions are frequently affected by worries and influenced by misleading assumptions that stem from our aimless self-reflection. It is our undisciplined and relentless mind that produces irresponsible or base behavior induced by irrational fears, which originate in non-existent sources or situations. Reality is warped by the wandering mind; reality is not what we think (our concepts and ideas). Thus, the most important thing we do is to discipline our minds to focus on reality as it is now. We have the uncanny ability to ignore the obvious.
Although all sages from the beginning of time have stressed the importance of having presence of mind, we refuse to see the necessity of it. We refuse to see what it can do for us. To try to simplify something rather complex I would say that it does three things for us: Physically speaking, presence can even save our lives by helping us be aware of what is coming at us; mentally, it will eliminate stress because stress dwells either in a non-existent future or a past that we refuse to let go; and spiritually, it will help us to see that we are never separate from the Source–“be still and know that I am God”–psalms 46:10.
I don’t know anybody that can be mindful at all times, but just trying our best (just our best) makes a big difference. And with a disciplined mind comes equanimity and inner balance whether we have or have not. And bear in mind that “having” and “having not” are always subject to change, so the most important thing we have is our presence of mind.
Filed under: Tips for the Spirit | Tagged: equanimity, everything interconnected, eye of the dragon, inner balance, reality, rio guzman, s guzman-c, self-help, spirituality |
Rio Guzman's Journal 
Hi Terri! Thank you for your comments.
I couldn’t find your blog to read about about your thoughts on getting organized etc.
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Hi – I found you on Google when I searched GDI. But this post caught my eye because while blogging today I had something to say about our thoughts and of all things, how to stop stressing. It’s on my blog about getting organized if interested.
To your GDI $uccess!
Terri
P.S. I am building a GDI biz too
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Thank you for your comment Andres. I am glad to know that you are aware of how important it is to discipline our minds. Actually, lack of attention and mind discipline causes most of the problems that human beings face, and most of us don’t realize how an undisciplined mind (ego mind) works against us.
It should be taught in school.
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I agree with you because the mind is the worst enemy we have. A man can have all the material wealth of the world but if left defeat mind it becomes worse for the poor and miserable in the world. We must educate our minds to always generate positive thoughts and not lead us into the abyss of nothingness, I liked what you wrote, it is very educational, thanks
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