In whirlwind society, it is easy to feel like we are pulled in a thousand directions.
Sometimes we have so many things we do (or would like to do), that it feels difficult to complete the things we start. Maybe this is not your experience, but it’s something I intermittently struggle with.
So, I’ll share a brief lesson I learned:
I was smoking a cigarette in the morning and a bit frustrated with myself, as the day had just begun, but my mind was already all over the place with “do this, do that” and I said to myself, “why can’t you just finish what you start?” Meaning — one thing at a time, but also, finish what you start.
Then I looked at the cigarette and laughed. I certainly always finish those when I start them.
Certainly, I had no commitment issues when it came to cigarettes. I could predict that, until the time comes where I am ready to quit, that is something I will do daily, and when I light one, I will finish it. This is something I do without having to think about it.
So certainly, I don’t have an issue with finishing what I start, or with having some sort of commitment to a practice. If I can do it with cigarettes, I can do it with anything.
Japa Meditation (Mantras)
A Japa Meditation is the practice of using Mala beads and chanting a mantra 108 times. I suppose you could do it for a different amount of repetitions (depending on the mantra) but traditionally, it is 108.
I put the cigarette out, and went to begin my morning meditation and yoga practice. I decided to do 108 repetitions of a mantra before I began.
Still not totally awake, I chose a particular mantra that would help with this. When you’re tired, you don’t always want to chant something 108 times. However, I started. And once you start, you can’t just stop. It’s not a practice to be taken lightly, in my opinion.
I completed 108 repetitions, and as I came to the last Mala bead I looked at them all, gave thanks, and placed the Mala back to the place I keep it. I felt a noticeable change — subtle, but noticeable, and sometimes it’s the subtle things that are most impactful.
That’s another thing that I started and finished. And that felt much better than the cigarette, but the lesson was the same. There is something to be said for finishing what you start, and it can be done.
One thing at a time.
When you’re a very ambitious person with many interests who likes to take on more things that are humanly possible at a time, the ultimate downfall of this is:
Burnout, overwhelm, and feeling like you can’t accomplish anything. This is what happens when energy becomes out of balance, and it’s nothing to freak out about, it can be corrected much more easily than even I thought.
I used to think the only way to fix this predicament would be to "do all the things immediately” that in a realistic perspective, can’t be done immediately, and certainly not simultaneously.
So? Start with the smaller things to build the sense of trust in your own energy and effectiveness back up again.
I am not suggesting anyone smoke cigarettes. Please never try them if you haven’t before. Coming from someone who has gotten clean and sober from a heroin addiction and has been sober 14 years, I tell you now, nicotine is a more insidious addiction than heroin.
Obviously they are different, but the hold it has on you long after you stop smoking is much longer than opiates, or anything else.
I’m not even suggesting to start a Japa Meditation practice or to start chanting mantras, that’s not for everyone. I’m just using my experience as an example.
If you’re in a new chapter of rebuilding your life and laying the foundation for Destiny, rejecting the conveyor belt of fate, and your primary desire is to honor your Souls mission, but you feel like you’re always working against something — and that something is… your own mind? Then maybe this lesson can benefit you as well.
Start small. The small things add up to a different life and way of operating. Trying to tackle all of the huge things at once is nonsensical and unrealistic, thus resulting in a feeling of defeat, when all of this is likely unnecessary.
Can you and I do those big things we want to do? Of course, we have already done many of them, and we will continue to do so.
But if you’ve been in a rut and are needing to get your discipline, energy and focus back, start small. Build from there.
Sometimes we go through “demolition periods” in life where we experience tremendous loss and trauma. It can result in a loss of faith in many things, including ourselves. Starting with smaller things and building upward from there seems to be working, so I’m passing this along.
For those who relate or who have been in this place before, feel free to share what’s working for you. It may help others who are navigating the same thing of consolidating their energy within a synthetic society that attempts to harvest attention and focus at every turn.
After all, energy is the most potent currency.
This can be our greatest asset, or it can be weaponized against us, by forces internal and external.
May you all have a blessed Saturday.
Wow this is great! The way you simply explain how to dissolve mountains of obstacles that we can't even fully define is very realistic and human. One step after another! That's what I try every day, but not always with immediate success. One thing is certain, there is nothing we cannot accomplish if we are sure of our energetic powers. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I loved knowing!
That was so interesting. I will give japa meditationn a try. I have collected beautiful malas, mostly as pretty, spiritual crystals. I will make one suggestion which has worked for me. I have switched to rolling my own organic tobacco cigarettes. I smoke less. I like the ritual of the practice. And when I make them myself I save tons of money. One pouch of American Spirit lasts 3 packs of cigarettes. A can is over a carton.. And I do like it better. Just a thought.