Here We Are

You.

You’re stuck on your phone, in a thought loop about yourself, in awe of others…

…and you’re just like me.

It’s a miracle we found each other. There’s almost a trillion combinations of things you could be doing right now, but somehow you landed here. Take a moment to reflect on every decision you’ve ever made, and everything that’s ever influenced you up until this point. Not to mention the generations of people, species, and infinite particles beyond that. The last moment determines this moment, this moment determining the next.

Yet, somehow here you are. You’re not the best, you’re not the worst. You don’t have everything, you don’t have nothing. You’re not an ant, a bird, or a fish… not that there’s anything wrong with being anything other than human. But at least, while we’re here, you can make a difference, and there’s something innately inspiring there.

I don’t know much about you. I assume, like me, you make some good choices and some bad choices, but with the endless distractions in the world, available at our fingertips, at the snap of a finger, within arm’s reach (lots of upper body metaphors)…

…it’s a miracle we’re not dead.

So Now… What?

Ironically, any of us on a self-development journey are overwhelmed with where to start (what to do, what to eat, what books to read, etc.)

You get overwhelmed by the lists you’re creating for yourself and then get distracted by an ad, an app, or a text on your phone as you go to write it down. 

Many of us want to jump ahead to the fun part, to the success. We want to be creators, but first we must learn to consume less of the junk, and consume with more intention.

Overconsumption Creeps in Everywhere…

There’s the obvious ones like entertainment (TV, social media, news), food and alcohol, sex, drugs, and gambling, and every other “vice” way too easily available.

There’s the overconsumption of negative thinking and opinions (including your own).

There’s even the overconsumption of things we think are good for you, but are not necessarily over the long run (think about too much sun exposure causing cancer or hyperextending a muscle during a workout). 

You can over consume just about anything and it costs you your time, money, health, energy, and more.

So again. Here you are. Like me, frozen.

Frozen in time, frozen with ideas, frozen with things you could do next. Where do I begin? How could I possibly do something, build something, become something?

First, Breathe…

Remember, like any spiritual or scientific teachings, it all starts there…

When you’re in control of your breath, you’re in control of life.

Notice how everything you do from this moment, what you think about, the next notification, the very next thing you literally and metaphorically consume… it all affects your breath.

If you want to do anything, make anything, be anything…

Take a literal and metaphorical breath first.

…Then, Begin.