Living an Easier Life

Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, I want to talk about a mindset shift for an easier life. So one of the things that creates stress is the belief that this shouldn't have happened. And the idea that something shouldn't have happened is in some ways as irrational as the idea that something should have happened. Now, the perspective shift to this should have happened, or let's say this happened the way things are intended to unfold is easier to opt into when it's something like a job loss or maybe a relationship breakup or maybe not getting a bid on an apartment.

It's harder when it's something like death of a loved one or an illness. So I think it's a very personal journey how we will orient to those more painful realities and what sort of metaphysical perspective we might take in relationship to them. So I'm not here to impose that on you. What I do want to invite you into is an inquiry into how the perspective that we're holding about an experience can prevent us from moving with the reality that is here. And often is the case that when we hold the perspective that this shouldn't have happened, it keeps us stuck playing that tape over and over of, what did I do wrong, why did this unfold this way, what could I have done differently.

And it can also keep us in, you know, a victim orientation if you're familiar with the victim triangle, of life is happening to me, which may be a cycle that we need to go through, but it's not something that will empower us to relate differently to the next moment or feel like we can enact change. So if you feel inspired, you can try out the simple mindset shift of this shouldn't have happened to maybe things are unfolding in a way that I can't fully understand yet. Maybe things are unfolding in a way that it can't fully understand yet. Again, this is going to be easier in some situations than others. And if it feels like this perspective is a form of violence against where you are in a grieving process, drop it.

So something to try out, if it feels effective for you. Thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.