I’ve been reading and following Jack Kornfield for over a decade now and keep coming back to two things.
One: His claim of being born a twin to cope with loneliness (that was the personal hook that led me to search out more of his ideas).
Mind the Puppy
Two: The whole “Mind the Puppy” thing to train the mind. Positive confidence and equanimity can be mine. But I may not get it the first time. Repetition is needed. I remember my first husband training our very alpha puppy, Bushido, to “go” on the paper. Again and again he patiently picked up this wriggling little puppy and took him back to the paper. Eventually it worked.
I used “mind the puppy” combined with “broken record” to protect my personal boundaries. I learned to say, softly at first, but gradually with assurance, “No, I’m sorry I can’t do that.” “Gosh, no, I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
And now the same with stepping back again and again to the positive zone of faith when the unwelcome visitors of anxiety or fear of “what will happen- with this fire, with this virus, with this country’s division, unrest and injustice” loom with larger images than are real.
Mind the puppy. https://jackkornfield.com/monkeymind/
Be Positive
Back to my own personal power and the changes in our world. All will be well. It won’t be the same (and that’s a good thing). It won’t go back to the way it was. It will be different and it will be ok.
I commit again and again to take this opportunity to see a newness, a shift in our worldview, to listen for a different way of seeing things.
Part of this is being impeccable with my word. That means telling myself I am capable, aware, and compassionate. And broadcasting that same message to everyone who crosses my path, physically or in thought.
Does this appeal?
See blogs: Words are Powerful- The Four Agreements
Odyssey Storytelling podcast- June 2020