Good Thing I’m Meditating

I had a day yesterday that made me so glad I’ve been on this Meditation challenge. As I prepare to upgrade my website I had booked myself in for a photo shoot yesterday, along with a hair and make-up appointment before to make it worthwhile. Well, my appointment started 20 minutes late, the girl messed up my hair, after which my car wouldn’t start and I had to make arrangements for another car to get to my photo shoot.

My makeup started running down my face, I almost hit a couple about to cross the street in front of me, and it was at this point near fatal point I found out the horn didn’t work on the borrowed car. And through all this I kept saying to myself, “wow, you would have been so stressed about all this.” But here’s the thing…I felt so calm, with minor moments of anxiety. Wow.

I was reflecting about all this today as I wanted to share how calm I feel lately. I’m not saying I don’t have my PMS moments, but I definitely notice a big difference in how I feel day to day in the face of inconveniences. For example, the other day when I went shopping for a fabulous outfit to wear on photo day, the girl forgot to pack my jewelry along with the clothing I bought, forcing me to return to the mall to get it. When the girl said, “thank you so much for not being upset”, I realized that it never even OCCURRED to me to be upset! Not even a “higher ground” choice of a moment…I just felt, okay. Okay, no big deal. I’ll stop at Staples on the way and pick up name tag cards, take that off my To Do list. I even smile more lately…

All this isn’t my first experience with meditation; I have my mother to thank for one of the most enriching experiences of my life. When I was 24 I delved in a book I took from her bedside table, Out On a Limb by Shirley MacLean. It was the first answer to the question “what is this existence about” that made sense to me, and I devoured it. Once my mom found out I had a passionate fire lit inside me about spirituality she sent me to a weekend long intensive meditation retreat. I’ve also found myself in possession of another book of hers I found lying around, Yoga Made Easy, and her booklet on Chakras. I’m proud to be carrying on what she started…

I have been meditating since then, but not daily like I am now. I love that I’m being more methodic about it now, and I see myself putting up another 8 Week Challenge when I’m done this one!