ั้ I hope you found a quiet place to sit and turned off all electronics that could provide as a distraction.
Be seated in any meditative posture and allow yourself to be comfortable.
Take your abdominal region to maintain an upright spine.
Place your hands on your knees or in a mudra of your choosing.
Slightly draw in your chin and rest your gaze on the space just ahead of you.
And if you prefer,
Now would be the time to gently close your eyes and mouth.
Let's begin by taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.
Rest your attention on your breath.
It will provide you an anchor throughout this meditation practice.
What is holding people back from the life that they truly want to live?
Why does someone get stuck when there's a fork in the road and they must make a decision?
One common thing that I see restricting people from living freely and joyfully is that they think too much.
They overthink problems until it becomes a fixation.
They fixate on problems until they've exhausted themselves.
They exhaust themselves until the thought gives them anxiety or a negative emotional response.
What is a thought?
Where does it come from and aren't we the ruler of our own thoughts?
Is our mind not our own if no one else is?
Humans seem to enjoy analyzing things to the point where they think they know exactly what to do.
But then the joy that comes from simply enjoying something in the moment has vanished.
Considering all the options can be a great thing of course.
But being an over thinker can result in becoming someone who stands still in life.
Standing in a murky swamp without any direction because they've trained their mind to think instead of do.
They've become a stick in the mud.
If you want to feel free and joyful in life you must go with the flow and find a sympathetic rhythm to move to.
Sitting around thinking can only go so far.
We must also remember to dance and sing.
I know thinking has its limits because I used to over think life and one day I realized that I was acting the prisoner of my own mind.
Living through life with a mindset that did not translate into action.
I can remember holding onto thoughts for so long that I had completely forgotten why I had initially wanted to put so much thought into it in the first place.
The time frame to make a difference had already expired.
I felt madness setting in.
I felt sick.
I felt like I wasn't enjoying my life and life itself was passing me by.
Making decisions is one of the most important aspects in life.
Being alive involves making one decision after another,
Knowing what to do and when.
Many people are respected and rewarded for their ability to make wise decisions,
Especially under pressure or within time restrictions.
If we have not developed a standard for making decisions in our own life,
We can make poor choices based on living life backward,
Engaging in negative emotions and feeling frustrated that they don't bring us satisfaction.
To avoid falling into the trap of overthinking and making a decision,
We must train ourselves to look at life with an eye of what to cultivate and what to discard.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.
Keep your attention on your breath and feel the air stabilize your mind.
In through the nose and out through the nose.
Now take a moment to consider a situation where you find yourself at a fork in the road or DMS for decision making situation.
You must make a decision here,
But you're not quite sure what to do yet.
I'll tell you what the single most important thing to do in any DMS is,
And that is to explore a positive and open attitude no matter what.
It's simple,
Isn't it?
Now let's put it into practice.
First let's connect with the breath once more,
Taking in some full,
Deep,
Natural breaths in through the nose and out through the nose.
In with the rising of the belly and chest and out with the falling of the abdomen,
Expanding from within and contracting back in.
Envision yourself standing at this fork in the road,
Your DMS,
And you find yourself here,
Not sure what to do.
At this moment,
You're going to make the decision to maintain a positive and open attitude throughout this process,
Regardless of the temptation to overthink,
Attach negative emotions to it or run away.
There may be a range of sensations and difficulty levels for this decision to be made,
But you're going to see it through and you're going to explore the positive and open side of doing it.
Breathe in through the nose and out through the nose.
Feel the positivity coursing through you as you face your DMS with love,
Patience,
Discernment,
No matter what it's about or how hard it can be.
Now,
Put the situation into a wider perspective.
Ask yourself,
Will this matter in five years or even in five weeks?
If so,
Then it's good to know that we can give our positive and open energy to this DMS.
If not,
Then we can allow the situation to pass us by.
Either that fork in the road may have only appeared for you to learn that it wasn't worth your time or energy.
Perhaps that was the lesson.
You know,
Some things in life can simply slide.
Feel the impermanence of life all around you and within you right now.
Life is constantly changing.
There is this magical interplay of life and death happening everywhere.
Feel how your life can be considered short and there's simply not enough time to allow ourselves to get stuck in any place for too long.
Next,
Stay alert,
Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose.
Feel the subtle energy you're receiving from the air and how your entire being is asking for more air upon completing the exhalation.
Be alive.
Feel the sensation of alertness within your body.
There's no need to rush into things.
Your wisdom knows when to move and when to rest.
Your body speaks for itself.
It is your mind's job to translate it.
You don't need to run around in circles.
You just need to sit quietly and cultivate a positive and open feeling towards life.
This is also meditation.
Then you'll know when to exert yourself.
This is alertness.
Breathing with the mind's natural stability and space invigorates the body like breathing fresh air.
This vitality and confidence is what brings us energy.
Take a moment to practice some conscious breathing cycles.
Continue to envision yourself in the DMS,
Standing there at the fork in the road,
Giving your most genuine presence to the situation,
Relaxing in this state of being,
In this very part of the process of making a decision.
In through the nose and out,
Expanding and contracting,
Rising and falling,
Openness and courage.
The overthinking mind is always being distracted by thoughts of what has happened and ideas about what could happen.
But the only thing that is truly happening is what is going on now.
Realize that you cannot control the past nor the future.
In fact,
Trying to control anything is a harmful process because it is not in our nature to control.
We cannot control life,
So it is better to learn how to flow with it,
Harness it,
Play with it.
Trying to think things through 50 times can be a way to try and control everything,
To cover every possibility so you don't risk making a mistake,
Fail or looking like a fool.
With your situation,
With your DMS,
Just focus your mind on the present moment.
If you're concerning yourself with the past or future of the situation,
You know that your mind has taken you out of where you truly needed to be in order to make a positive and open decision.
Next,
Understand that every moment is an opportunity to learn.
There is no losing in life,
Just learning.
You truly stretch your comfort zone when you allow yourself to learn from your mistakes.
Everyone who you may admire and have lived a life that inspires you has failed.
They have made mistakes.
They have also seen these so-called failures as valuable feedback to learn from.
Those things that may look negative have taught them a lot and have been invaluable to help them to grow and become the person you aspire to reflect now.
Perhaps going down the wrong path isn't wrong at all.
Perhaps we can start looking at both the split in the road and the different paths as all acceptable because they will all teach us something about how to live happily.
Take a moment now to check in with your DMS.
Are you able to envision yourself being any more comfortable in it?
Are you still standing at the fork in the road with a confused or worried look on your face?
Or do you feel a bit of that excitement and tension gone from holding this positive and open attitude?
Let's make sure we're still connected with the body in this meditation by taking in some full,
Deep,
Refreshing,
Natural breaths in through the nose and out through the nose.
In with the rising of the belly and chest and out with the falling of the abdomen,
Expanding from within and contracting back in.
Mastering our ability to make appropriate decisions begins with the ability to see how we block the way to our own contentment.
In our meditation practice,
We are trying to penetrate our speedy exterior and environment by reducing our activities and stabilizing our ability to be present.
Then we can translate the stability into our daily lives,
Continually reflecting on what to cultivate and what to discard in order to strengthen our energy.
We realize that overthinking is an unnecessary move that throws us off balance and drains our energy.
Using discernment,
We learn to slow down,
Look at where we are,
And appreciate our decision making situation.
It's not something to fear or try to avoid.
It's happening for a reason and we have the ability to let go of unnecessary activity instead of wanting more.
Decide to be focused instead of distracted.
Decide to exert ourselves toward appreciating life and creating something beautiful instead of approaching things with aggression and concentrating on yourself all the time.
For the next few moments,
Continue to envision this decision making situation playing out while you make decisions using your ability to be positive and open no matter what.
