2025 - Week 29 - PracticingGratitude

All the links: LINKTR.EE/BARBARAFAISON

Are you steady? How do you handle routine? You know that everydayness of getting through life. The stuff like getting up, going to work or doing the daily activities we do, cooking, cleaning, keeping the house in order. I know, fun things right?

By nature, I am routine averse. Lol. Simply put, routine is not my friend. Although there are things I do routinely, I don't particularly enjoy them. Yes, I cook, keep the house in order, the maintenance things required in life. Do I enjoy them? Not so much. They feel like obligations and requirements most of the time.

Have you heard the expression?, Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water- after enlightenment, Chopped wood carry water? What that means to me is Being steady in the midst of the Everydayness or routineness of life.

I feel extremely grateful for having my meditation practice. My meditation practice keeps me steady. Practicing breathing and meditation daily keeps me steady. This allows me to start my day from a place of spaciousness, openness, and readiness. The self-awareness I experience simply through my daily time in silence continues to help me expand and grow.

As soon as I realize I am awake, I say thank you out loud. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The simple acknowledgment of being alive another day is a powerful way for me to acknowledge life.

When people ask me, how do you meditate every day, I honestly have no answer other than how do I NOT meditate every day. Because I've done some type of meditative practice since the 90s, it is ingrained in the routine that comes with my daily life.

Humans are creatures of habit. Think about it, when we rise, we likely brush our teeth, tend to our hygiene, meaning we shower, or at least wipe some important parts, lol, prior to dressing, we may have a cup of coffee or tea or a soda, or a glass of water, and then we begin more routines throughout the day.