Time to Sit?
The Rallying Cries for Patience.
First it was Chris Brogan with his rallying against the assault on anywhen, today it’s Gary Vaynerchuck with his request for people to exercise Patience.
A big problem with modern society is that everyone wants everything NOW…. and none of us can have everything now because everything is a damn big pie! How do you eat a big pie? Like you do the proverbial elephant, one bite at a time over time.
As I have suggested elsewhere on the blogosphere today in response to a great post by James over at The Infopreneur, for whom the penny has dropped on this concept, you can move a mountain if you take your time and focus on one shovel full at a time, but if someone asked you to move the mountain and you only looked at the mountain, you would probably die from the scale of the task.
Underlying Themes
If you have been around this blog for a little while, you will know that patience is one of the things that I am working on as part of my own personal development, and an underlying theme and it has been the subject of past posts like “What are you waiting for – isn’t it time to be patient instead?” and “Teaching fishing – life’s parallels”.
One of the greatest ways to learn patience is to learn to meditate….. it also helps with one of the other underlying themes on this blog.. being present in the here and now.
I’ve set myself an interesting challenge to try and help improve my meditation, which I am sure will have a profound impact on other areas of my life as I go along.
So what is the challenge?
90 sits in 90 days….. OK stop the laughing.. I said SITS…. how bloody hard can it be to sit down 90 times in 90 days you are asking yourself while rolling on the floor….you think I’ve just found a great excuse for sitting on my backside and doing nothing.
Well nothing could be further from the truth. Meditation can be hard work… there are lots of methods and sitting meditation is one of them, you can find some great meditation resources here.
So far this challenge has 160 participants worldwide (not a lot when you consider the level of impatience all around us) so why not join me in doing this challenge for yourself (I am in no way affiliated with the organisers of this event)…. but before you start….
What gets up your nose about people being impatient? What do you do to counter it? and finally….I’m getting ready to move my mountain by a few more shovel fulls, will you join me in this challenge? Let me know in the comments
todays post image by twoblueday’sRelated posts:
How do you move a mountian?
First: make a choice to move it. Once you decide to do it there should be no going back.
Second: Get up and start moving it. Doesn’t matter whether you’re doing it with a spoon, a shovel, a digger or getting James (The Infopreneur) to drag the thing for you. Just take action and do it.
Great post Mick.
Thanks Ben, I agree taking action is essentially the only way to move it (and getting James to drag it would probably work too :-}
Hey brother,
Thanks for the mention this has inspired a post idea, back to your post though.
The only way of doing anything, whether it be getting out of bed in the morning or climbing mount Everest is to take action
aint that the truth…. just have to remember that every small action adds up to a BIG action
Yeah.. mountains don’t move by staring at them.
If only they would……ohh well picking up my shovel for another day of moving parts of the mountain.
Mick,
A great post.
I’ve recently returned to daily meditation; how I’m benefiting from too. It’s such a rewarding activity (is that a paradox).
What gets up my nose about impatient people? None other than impatient drivers, either the ones who insist on seeing how close they can drive to you or the ones who drive at ridiculous speeds through residential areas.
Regards
Paul
Thanks Paul, even a few minutes and a few deep breaths makes a huge difference to your mental and physical status doesn’t it.
I hate those ***** drivers as well, but when I catch myself getting frustrated at them, its a reminder that it is an opportunity….so a few deep breaths, adjust my driving posture…ahhh thats better, let the fool go on their way!
Good luck Mick! I won’t be joining you in the challenge this time, because I’ve so much else going on (and my own personal development habits I’m working on) that it wouldn’t get the attention it deserves, but it seems like a good goal to have.
Heather, if you can’t join the challenge that’s cool. You might want to check out http://www.meditationrocks.us/ where you can find some great tips on squeezing meditation into your everyday activities.
As I said to Paul above, even a few deep breaths and checking your posture can make a HUGE difference.
I’m actually already subscribed there Mick – I tend to float in and out.
As my relaxing thing I do Tai Chi; has a similar effect to meditation in some ways.
Agreed though, it does make a difference.
Heather, from my understanding Tai Chi is essentialy meditation in motion.. so you have your own great method already going.
Seems pretty accurate to me… it’s fun.
I think this is great! I often ask my clients to choose “one small thing” to do everyday, no matter what…Because it can illustrates how one small thing can “move mountains.” And I’m talking SMALL.
I suggest picking something that is so easy and so small that you can do it if you’re sick, tired, or on the road. You can do if the power goes out, there’s a flood or fire. Something you can do unless you are in a coma basically. Your “sits” is perfect.
What might help as you start sitting is to link your new activity to something you already do, for sure, no matter what. The favorite link for most people are bathroom habits…. I’m serious.
How well can “one small thing” move mountains? Let me tell you about two.
1) How about the client who ended up losing 75 pounds by picking “marching in place” every morning when she brushed her teeth in the morning. Yep. She was very over weight and decided that marching was something she could do. From marching in place every morning she build a sense of commitment to her health and started to make other choices and is now down 75 pounds….And still marching.
2) Another client decided to think about everything he was grateful about when he went….potty….in the morning. He was dealing with a job loss depression. He says this daily practice helped him feel less resentful and hostile as he looked for new work.
So I feel strongly that one small thing can indeed move mountains.
Count me in on the 90 in 90. I’ve not been so good at sitting meditation so this will be an interesting project.
Thanks for this post!
Rachel, what great examples of moving mountains one piece at a time…. glad to have you joining the challenge.