This is the mantra that popped into my head as I was feeling down, embarrassed, and ‘less than’, about the fact that I did not have a blog made for this week (yet!) and that I was so behind with things; even just cleaning our bathroom.
Just as fast as that negative thought of “you are less than and not enough” came in, immediately my practice “off the cushion” kicked in! And that’s the moment I felt a big ‘NO’ in my body! The mantra came swiftly, “I’m not failing, I am recalibrating.”
With the shifting season, shifting relationships, new school for my kids (new building, same great PS 278!), experiencing loss, gaining a new class( SEE BELOW), offering new yoga class recordings(SEE BELOW), joining the T.H.A.Y. executive board, and so many other things in the day-to-day that can cause me to feel swept up, I had not made it to drafting this week’s blog. I haven’t cleaned the bathroom, and I have emails and projects to follow up with.
I didn’t make the blog, therefore I am a failure to my readers, a failure to my work, and a failure to myself.
This is how the mind can work…it can tear you down.
But, the mind can also be used to build yourself back up!
When we take even a mindful second to realize our current life circumstances (hello ‘Sacred Pause’), like I did while running across 204th Street to pick up my kids and had this experience, our lives can change for the better.
By noticing the negative thought, and saying “this is real, this thought, but it is not true”, we can separate our innate goodness from a destructive thought.
By considering what is happening right now in my life, and by choosing a compassionate perspective to shed light on what feels difficult, transformation happened. And it can happen instantaneously.
I am NOT a failure. I am in the midst of change. And I am recalibrating to adapt to what is needed and what I need.
You can try it too. When you hear a negative, judgemental, doubtful, or fearful thought come into your mind, try saying this, “Real, but not true”. (This is a practice I learned last year in my Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certificate Program, MMTCP.)
The effects of this transformation did immediately help me, but I’m going to also use this moving forward. I know life changes constantly and I will need other mantras down the road.
Especially knowing that the mantra does not change my life’s circumstances. However, how I approach my life circumstances are up to me.
So, today I am choosing to see this moment in life as a recalibrating to the new flow. And I will recalibrate again tomorrow!