I went away over the weekend with a group of girlfriends .. it was fun and exhilarating, full of laughter and shared stories, wine, food and song. It was all the good bits that come together naturally when a group of friends are bonded for a celebration.
Invariably, Saturday night was full on! The morning had started with a wine tasting and we were still enjoying bubbles and chocolate at midnight. And when these celebratory nights occur, I find that when finally I am settling for sleep .. I do this dance around 'will I, or won't I, wake in the morning for my meditation practice'. The question is not that I will meditate, but do I trust that I will wake at dawn-ish time (as I most naturally do) or should I set an alarm (of course if I trusted in waking on time but in fact slept in .. then I get to sleep in! secretly this is quite thrilling)
I decided to trust that I would wake. And I did wake. All good.
I woke and was blessed with seeing the sun blooming into the horizon, a thin stream of orange, pink and bright red.
I then sat up and meditated.
Like I do every morning.
And in my meditation on this glorious morning, with eight sleeping girlfriends around me in other rooms .. I recognised that my mind was already busy .. filling up with animated and noisy thinking about events, discussions, judgements, beliefs .. usual stuff just amplified.
And then .. loud and clear I heard ..
WHATEVER!
Loud. Clear. Succinct.
WHATEVER!
And so I rolled this word around in my mind .. and accepted that this was going to be my naturally arising mantra for morning meditation. Whenever a tantalising thought bubbled up, I silently noted WHATEVER .. and this proved to be an amazingly grounding mantra for the duration of my practice.
WHATEVER like my teenager used to say, with her hand up (like a stop sign) indicating that I was tempting a blow up if I proceeded with what I was saying or doing or commanding.
WHATEVER meaning - step back. stop. let go. drop it.
And so today I wanted to share this mantra with you. As you go about your day, or in your meditation, or while walking the dog or hanging out the washing .. if you find yourself getting snared into negative thinking or distracted by a train of thought that serves no purpose .. please try the mantra
WHATEVER
and let it go
and allow a moment of peace to ease your busy day.
