Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, I'm going to talk about

the power of a paradigm shift.

There's an old story that

illustrates this really well.

So once upon a time, there was a wise old

man who lived next door to a gas station.

Every day he would sit outside his house

in his rocking chair and just chat to the

people who pulled through the gas station.

One particular morning, a tall,

well-dressed man pulls up at the

station, walks over to the old man

and says, "Gosh, Hey, you know what?

My, my wife and I, we've been thinking

about moving out of our town for a while.

And this looks like a

really interesting town.

What are the people like here?"

So the old man replied, "Well, what

are the people like where you're from?"

To which the man replied, "Well

in my town, the people are

actually quite rude and selfish.

They all gossip about each other.

They're not very nice to be around."

The old man smiled at the

stranger and said, "Oh, I see.

Well, you know what?

That's just what the people

are like in this town too."

That afternoon, a family pulled up

at the gas station and the father

got out of the car, walked up to the

old man and said, "Hey, I've been

thinking about relocating for work.

This town is really interesting.

Would you mind telling me what are

the people like who live here?"

The old man replied, "Well, what

are the people like way you're from?

The father said, "Well, the town where

I'm from, everyone's really kind.

And it's a very close knit community.

People are always willing to lend a hand.

You know, people are

generally very caring."

"Interesting," said the old wise

man, "Well, that is exactly what

the people are like here too."

What the old man knew is that no matter

where you move, you take your own

beliefs, your own paradigm with you,

and really that determines how you view

and interact with the world around you.

Your beliefs become your

paradigms, the frameworks, if

you will, for how you view life.

Now, if we have an unhelpful paradigm,

you know, one that's holding us back

from being our best selves or living

a really full life, then shifting

some of your core beliefs really

is the key to big, positive change.

So there are three basic steps

to creating a paradigm shift.

They are, first of all, you need to

be willing to question whether the

belief is really true and ultimately

be willing to stop buying into that

belief if it's no longer serving you.

Step two, try on a more empowering and

helpful belief, like in this instance, you

know, believing that people are selfish

and rude, you might want to switch that

to, you know, what people aren't perfect,

but they're mostly kind and trustworthy.

Step three, practice wearing this

new, more empowering belief over and

over again, and acting according to

it in the world, until it eventually

becomes like second nature.

In this way, you start to

create a paradigm shift.

So this is the invitation

for practice today.

See if there's anywhere in your life where

your old paradigm is not really working

for you anymore, not really serving you.

And if it feels right to you,

start to take these small

steps towards a big change.

As Stephen Covey once said, "If

you want small changes in your

life, work on your attitude.

But if you want big changes,

work on your paradigm."

So thank you for your practice and for

being here in this community with us.

And now let's settle

in today's meditation.