This is just one minute on Drop the Stone.
We all have something we're carrying around.
Needless self-criticism,
An old grudge or a grievance,
Or maybe a habit or a behavior that is not really good for us or good for other people.
Think of it as a stone that you're carrying around or is stuck in your shoe.
Or maybe if you're out of backpack,
It's 20 pounds that you're carrying a load of again and again.
Notice how good it would feel to let it go.
So to drop the stone in everyday life,
First of all,
Know what the stone is.
What are you actually committing to disengaging from?
Second,
Watch the tendency,
The habit pattern of the stone to sneak its way back.
And instead,
Disengage from it,
Stop fueling it,
Stop feeding it,
Stop identifying with it inside your own mind.
And then the third thing,
Maybe the most important of all,
Replace that stone with something else.
In other words,
For example,
If you've let go of a lot of unnecessary self-criticism or unrealistic standards that you feel you've got to meet,
You can replace that with feelings of self-acceptance,
Self-compassion,
And self-worth.
In these ways,
You can lower the weight of burden that you've been carrying around.
And as you go through your days,
May you drop the stone.
