There are many different needs, wants, desires that I have experienced throughout my life, as I change in age, as I meet and associate with different people, so the practices that I adopt to better serve this goal naturally change as well. That is not to say that sometimes I do not get stuck. They say that practice makes perfect. I have found this a helpful phrase at times and not so helpful at others. I do think that practice can increase the possibility for us to find success in any given goal, but if the practice is no longer appropriate for that time, place, and disposition of my life, it can actually take me further away from my goal of health and happiness. Practice can become a mechanical function that no longer has any reward of positive emotion, or, even worse, a negative stale, grinding feeling when it is performed. I think practices are alive. They are not serving us to improve if there is a negative state that is associated with it. At their truest, best appropriate form for us they give purpose and meaning to us as we live and breath.
That is not to say that it is easy to find such a life enriching practice. Throughout our life times, I believe, and have experienced in my own, that it is common to adopt many different practices as we ourselves grow. For instance, I used to find much relief, entertainment, engagement, and so many other things that I believed positive form playing video games, but the more that my life came into maturity, the more that I experienced of different ways to feel and be. It is then that I realized that there were many things that were left undone in my life that I need to address that were hard for me to see as I would lose myself for hour upon hour within the virtual worlds of video games. There were many feelings and external results that were negative that I could not keep ignoring, after a point, that grinding feeling would begin to drag me further and further into frustration and boredom. Also a feeling of displeasure came about when I had to turn that world off and live in the world outside this entertaining interactive picture show. The unhappiness that I was experiencing, and that of my loved ones, as, what I felt, was a result of my video game practice. This was enough to make me change my ways, to change or adopt a new practice like yoga, that helps me maintain a clear connection to what is truly happening around me. I also would like to say that my problem in playing video games seemed to mostly result from my unwillingness to set them down, not that video games are a bad practice. For me they can be an addiction, meaning I now practice enjoying them moderately or separate myself from them if it is not possible for me to enjoy them sparingly. Many practices can be healthy, but, in my experience, depending on how they are practiced, they can turn into something negative.
Gratitude Practice
This week I encourage you to evaluate the practices that are a major part of your life. Celebrate them with gratitude, appreciate how they have served you to bring you to this point. Adopt a perspective of honesty with how they are serving you now in you current life circumstances. Are they helpful? Are they harmful? What is your goal for life, and how is this practice in line with that, or is there another practice that could better serve you? Be compassionate to yourself, you have been practicing this for a period of time perhaps, and it has become an important part of your life, show gentle understanding, as you encourage another practice into your life that may better serve you while gently moving the other, not so helpful, practice out. Invite patience into your practice, have faith that things will improve as you practice, remaining grateful, honest, and compassionate in different shapes and forms as you continue on your journey through learning and living a healthier and happier life day to day. When I found myself not knowing what to do, I found that having faith and patience in practicing a practice I could trust in and understand, that I knew offered what would bring me closer and closer to my greatest good, would get me through. I am doing my best toward that goal of health and happiness, and find that is the best gift I can give myself and others. I encourage you to do your best, my friend! To keep practicing, noticing what is working and what is not for your greatest overall health and happiness!
Thank you for joining me on this journey through practice today, my friend! I hope that you have gained perspective on what could serve you better toward your greatest good if you have not already found that in your life! Thank you for being wonderful you! Have a great day! Love, peace, joy, and a patient grateful practice to you now and always! God bless and Namaste! From Aaron :-)