Dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation which,
As the title suggests,
Is an encouragement to begin again if you have fallen by the wayside with a project.
It is designed to motivate you to start again,
To take one renewed opening step,
After which I believe you will find yourself possessed of a new momentum.
All our worthwhile actions begin from a place of reflection.
So let us begin and can I suggest you would close your eyes now and give yourself a little break to allow yourself to become aware of the gift of quiet presence.
Welcome back.
An opening thought from Zen Mind Beginner's Mind.
This is from Shunru Suzuki.
Treat every moment as your last.
It is not a preparation for something else.
Wherever you are,
You are one with the clouds,
And one with the sun and the stars.
You are one with everything.
That is more true than I can say,
And more true than you can hear.
Words of Shunru Suzuki The quote reminds us of the importance of what we are doing just now in any present moment.
Shunru suggests that we treat every moment as our last,
But I suggest it might be even more exciting to treat every moment as our first.
Just look at the way children explore the world around them.
The magical advice is that this time is not a preparation for something else.
This is the time of your life.
In the back of our minds we all know this to be the case,
Which is why every so often the idea of a need for a correction bubbles up to the surface.
A moment comes and we decide we need to adjust our course.
We need to head off in some more desirable direction.
Human nature being what it is,
We tend to become complacent,
Maybe a little lazy.
We become distracted,
Disconnected from our original decided goal.
Before we know it,
We find ourselves drifting from our predetermined plan.
A simple illustration might help.
You have been to the dentist and you have had a major cleaning operation on your teeth.
You can feel the difference.
Next day you take the greatest care on brushing and flossing.
The feeling is so good.
But after a while you take this for granted.
One day you are in a particular hurry and the brushing is hurried.
But everything still feels good.
Another day you are tired and the flossing is dropped.
But if this reduced attention becomes the norm,
A day of reckoning will come.
One day your teeth don't feel as fresh as they did a little while back.
You look in the mirror and you notice that your teeth don't look as clean or pearly as they were on the day after your visit to the dentist.
So you go back to the hygienist and you begin again,
This time with a little more motivation than before.
Our lives are a little like that.
We need every so often to stop,
Reconsider,
Check the map as it were,
Adjust direction and then move on with a renewed sense of purpose.
Louis Pasteur puts it this way,
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal.
My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
Let's pause for another break during which I would like you to look at the map of your life,
Check if you are on course.
And if you find yourself drifting a little from your planned route,
Make a decision in relation to the road ahead.
A decision to begin again.
Welcome back again.
Yes it is difficult to pick up the pieces when you have stopped.
It's hard to motivate yourself and get moving again.
It's hard even if you decided you need to turn a corner and change direction.
But it can be done.
Just look at a train in a station.
It moves very slowly and reluctantly to start,
Then second by second,
A little more quickly and so on until it reaches its cruising speed.
It can be the very same with us.
You could take a hill or a mountain walk as an illustration.
Take a first step,
Only one simple step on the path,
Then another and another.
Notice the clearer and more inspiring view as you move up the path.
This improving view motivates you to climb higher and higher until you reach the summit.
Sometimes you will find it necessary to stop.
Sometimes you might be forced by circumstances to move back down the track.
But be assured that you can make it to the top once you stop,
Refocus and set out again with determination.
As Louis Pasteur reminds you,
Your strength lies solely in your tenacity.
So never be discouraged by past failure.
Never be disheartened by the fact that you may,
For a time,
Have drifted from your set goal.
The decision to stop and re-examine is itself a first corrective step.
So your next move is not step one but actually step two.
You are already on your way.
A thought from Thomas Edison to conclude our reflection.
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.
The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
So may you have the inspiration to try just one more time.
May your efforts be blessed as you pick up the pieces of your life,
Set your direction and move on again.
Namaste.
Thank you.
