Awakening III
From my journal for 8/19/20
Realized last night that sometimes I tend to be driven all day. Need to work on that.
This is really important. It needs to become my current spiritual project. I need to slow down, and calm down. This drivenness is usually focused on staying active and getting mostly good things done, but it ultimately stresses me out and I need to stop it.
My Zen Things list says:
Do one thing at a time
Do it slowly and deliberately
Do it completely
Do less
Put space between things
All five of these things need to be incarnated in my daily routine. All five. Not just the first one.
Truth is that the other seven things are just as important:
Develop rituals
Designate time for certain things
Devote time to sitting
Smile and serve others
Make cleaning and cooking (etc.) become meditation
Think about what is necessary
Love simply
This really is a kind of “Rule of Life”. It is principles to live by. It is a whole way of life, and I am ready for it. It has been on the wall in my office for quite a while, and I liked it, but the truth is I have never taken it really seriously. I need to write about each one. Truth is the list may very well find it’s way into my Rule. It is definitely the answer to my problem with drivenness. The real challenge will to do this in a way that doesn’t cause problems with family, but it is clearly a major part of how I am called to live my life. It is definitely my current formation project.
I love this. The questions just come to me, and then in my journaling the answers come to me as well. The journaling seems to train my mind to listen to my Sacred Inner Being. This seems like real Divine Union. I have been working toward Divine Union for a long time, but it seems to be coming to fruition here. I can sense this as yet another awakening. I guess this is why I woke up so early this morning.
The first thing that comes to me is for Number 7. Designate time for certain things. Two hours a day on weekdays, generally right after my morning time and breakfast for writing and blogging. That is separate from Journaling.