Find a Quiet Place
The 3x3
As my life reeled in chaos this week, I was reminded of the power of meditation and the need to provide space for life to happen. As a mentor, it is easier to say than do. While I have written about this topic before, I am still working on creating that space in my life.
Some tips for beginning meditation that I picked up this week are:
- Actively listen to instrumental music for 10 minutes a day. When your mind starts to wander, push yourself back into the music, quieting the mind.
- Open the window and listen to the ambiance: birds, trickling water, children playing. Take in that aural landscape and relax.
- Focus on breathing. Feel your breath being drawn in and pushed out. Count each breath. When your mind starts to drift, refocus and start your breathing again. Can you get up to ten breaths? I consider making five a goal.
Calming your mind allows you to consider new solutions. And as you begin to see things from a different perspective, you will strengthen your mind.
This week, I reached into Readers Hope to find some outstanding new scribes. If you haven’t checked out that publication yet, I encourage you to read some of the up-and-coming talents featured over there.
Our first new writer is Elgin Carelock. Elgin has been on Medium for only six weeks. He writes from his experience in corporate, as a trainer and manager, sharing some of the techniques he used to help others find success.
Just the title of this one, I know I need to, but…, had me. Far too often, we feel we’ve failed because we do not meet our own expectations. Here he shares a process for evaluating the benefits of change. That is one of the biggest obstacles we face when working with others to develop new solutions.
Abraham Lincoln was famous for writing letters in anger when things did not go according to plan, yet wise enough never to send them. Here is a modern way to adopt a similar process for assessing what has gone wrong.
We often leave our authentic selves behind in the quest to get ahead. That can have devastating effects. In the story So Who Are You, Elgin shows us why it is important to bring our authentic selves along for the ride no matter where we are going.
Gerald Washington is another writer that had my attention from the first story I read.
Here he retells a childhood memory of getting locked out of his house.
Youth is innocent, and the surprise of discovering Gerald was a boy with two names is purely magical.
Finally, this story serves as a lesson for how providing a simple courtesy gives a sense of closure and reduces anxiety to others.
Next week, I travel from my home in Japan back to The San Francisco Bay Area for my dad’s memorial service. The thought of his passing had me considering all the last times. The last time we hugged, the last time we took a vacation together, the last time we watched a football game. As we get older, we should treat every treasured experience as if it were the last time. That perspective will help us to appreciate those times and the memories we are creating.
Charlie Cole’s The Last Snowfall brought back some of those memento mori memories.
We Are All a Work In Progress uplifted me. It also served as a reminder: no matter where we are in life we aren’t done yet. Keep working to be what you envision for your life. That is what creates the magic.
If Apple OS is on version 12 and Windows is on 11, then I must be on at least version 20.5.7. Never finished, and always improving.
Oh, happy day! I’m thrilled to have a life filled with intensity, insecurity, gratitude, and everything in between. I’m over the moon to be here; producing content, serving as a mentor, and expanding minds. And Charlie is too.
Thanks for reading The 3 X 3. I appreciate you giving me, and these new Medium writers a few minutes of your day. It means the world to us.
Win the Day!
John
