The Mindful Step

This step, the one right now, is the only one that matters.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by to-do lists and the busyness of everyday life. It’s easy to feel intimidated by our dreams and aspirations. It’s easy to forget that all the stress, all the worry, and all our fears, are just mental chatter. We so easily identify with the stories we play in our minds, soon believing that we are being asked to take an impossible leap, far beyond our potential.

The truth is, we aren't. All we need to do is come back to this step, the present moment, and what it holds. We may need to face the stress, the worry, and the fears straight on, but eventually they dissolve in the light of our awareness.

Sure, this all sounds wonderful, but what does it really mean? What do I have to do? Is it really possible for a “regular” person like me? I asked many of these questions myself, and this is what I’ve learned.

New Beginnings

Hello and welcome! As I launch this new website and new blog, I see a clear pattern of rebirth and renewal in my own life as well as continually in nature around me. There is birth and decay everywhere. Just last week we all experienced the New Moon (the beginning of a new lunar cycle) and the Autumnal Equinox (the beginning of a new season)! Certainly, there's a cyclic nature to this world we live in. The theme of new beginnings isn't a new one, of course. Its literally as old as time itself! In human culture, perhaps the most obvious new beginning might be the New Year, when people everywhere celebrate a fresh start, taking time to recommit to their goals with renewed fervor. Yet new beginnings take their forms in all manner of ways if we are only open to them. What if we could access that energetic strength of newness any time we wanted rather than waiting for the New Year? Well we can, because every moment is a new moment. Our goal in practicing mindfulness is to stay anchored in the present moment, letting go of our thoughts of a past that's only a memory trace and a future that's only an imagined outcome. Inevitably, though, the mind wanders, and when we come back to the present moment, we start again. This fresh start is available to us in any moment we choose to take it. And when we take that fresh start, time and time again, we often find that we can keep to our goals a little easier.

Sometimes it seems as though this cycle of new beginnings is like repeating a loop over and over. Yet when we observe closely, we notice that it is never quite the same. With each new beginning,