Things that mind don’t matter and things that matter don’t mind.

I am currently reading “The Untethered Soul” recommended by a wise and trusted mentor. In this book, Michael A. Singer likens the mind to a crazy roommate living in our heads which we never hold responsible for the trouble it causes. It’s often wrong, or offers bad advice, and yet we still take instructions from it.

The Buddhist tradition calls it the ‘monkey mind’. Restless, fanciful, confused, uncontrollable. Monkeys are notorious for getting into trouble, so this is a very apt description of the mind!

In my experience the mind is relentless, fast as lightning. It is like the sunshine dancing atop the ocean’s waves. It’s bright, shiny, and captivating. It is true that the mind is necessary, you have to use your brain for many things. Just don’t believe that you are the computer! 

Your truth lies in your depth. 

You are deep, like the ocean. 

The waves are only on the surface. 

What you are is infinite.

This quote may seem familiar, it’s inspired by Dr Seuss’s words “those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” meaning if someone loves you they matter and they don’t criticise you for simply being who you are, whereas those who find fault are not important in your life.

Let’s extend this to things that mind i.e. all the things that the ‘monkey mind’ conjures up which at best are superfluous distractions and at worst cruel, negative, fault finding, and demoralising. The things that are really important in our lives are not of the mind but of the heart and soul.

How do we deal with the ‘monkey mind’? It’s actually super fast and easy. Here, Tibetan Buddhist Master Mingyur Rinpoche eloquently explains in under 2 minutes How to train your monkey mind. There are several methods you can try. It’s more important to find one you resonate with rather than use methods other people suggest but aren’t a great fit. I use a short 10 minute movement meditation which is incredibly powerful - I’m happy to teach to you - just reach out and ask!

What is the reward for not paying so much attention to the mind’s white noise? We are able to enjoy greater peace. This is where we get to know our true selves and can hear the heart and soul’s wisdom.

What is my heart’s wisdom? Go with the flow.

The reward? This morning when greeted by this beautiful sunrise, instead of getting busy making tea, checking emails, etc. I took a few minutes to pause and enjoy it. Then I made a cuppa and wrote this blog. It’s things like this that feed my soul!

What does your soul ask for when you are able to dive deep and quiet your mind?

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Nepalese Monkey. © Renee Chamberlin all rights reserved.

And suddenly you know It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings

As I take some time out to write this morning, the sun is rising on what I normally call ‘hump day’.

But today is no hump day. 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. 

After 6 years of getting comfortable with a role and its associated title, responsibilities and routines, the whole tree has been shaken and this little apple has busted free.

It is both an ending and a new beginning rolled into one. I’ve been in this situation twice before, but this time is quite different. This time the way events unfolded, and the timing, was not of my choosing.  Perhaps if it were left up to me I would never have leapt out of the comfortable and the known? Which, by the way, is also a type of bondage, a constriction of growth, preventing the reaching of one's full potential.

Today feels like a huge weight has been lifted, and it has been replaced with a vacuum of uncertainty. The truth is that though I have been looking forward to writing something other than compliance documents, having some more time to do all these things that I’ve been pushing aside ‘until I get the time’, and moving into a career where hump day is not a relevant concept (because a day at work is just as enjoyable as a day off), there is some trepidation about where this is going to lead me.

Am I going to be successful in making a desired career change?

Am I going to love where it takes me?

Is it going to pay the bills and allow me to live a life I am happy with?

The reality is that comfort is not what we’re here for. There is little in life over which we can have complete control (though we may try!) We have to trust in the greater plan and at some times in our lives that lesson rings larger, louder, and truer just to remind us that trust is the best plan forward.

So today instead of marking assignments and overhauling policies and forms, I am going to make ice cream,  start organising my new life and at some point take a nap :) and over the coming days, weeks and months I will start to paint a new picture for my life.

Wish me luck!

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Sunrise at Governer’s Chair. © Renee Chamberlin all rights reserved.