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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.
Today, we're going to talk
about the folly of fitting in.
So there's a great story about this.
One day, an old man, a boy,
and a donkey are happily making
their way to the nearest town.
The boy was riding on the donkey and the
old man was happily walking beside them.
As they went along, they passed some
people who remarked that it was wrong
that the old man was walking and the
young boy was riding on the donkey.
It should be the other
way around they said.
So the man and the boy took on what the
critics said, changed their positions
and continued on down the road.
Soon enough, they passed a group
of people who berated the old man.
What a cruel thing to make
that poor little boy walk.
In response to those critics, the boy
and the old man both decided to walk.
So a little later they passed a farm.
People there said you have a
perfectly good, strong donkey to ride.
What are you doing?
It can carry you both.
You must be stupid.
So hearing this, they both
jumped on and rode the donkey.
And all was well until they came
to the outskirts of town and people
there shamed them saying, how could
you be so awful as to put this big
load on this poor little donkey?
The boy and the man felt so bad that
they hopped off the donkey, picked
it up and carried it on there backs.
And as they crossed the town bridge
in quite a bizarre spectacle, trying
to carry this donkey, they lost their
balance, they lost their grip on the
donkey and it fell into the river.
So what's the moral of this story?
If you try to fit in and please
everyone all the time, you're
probably going to lose your sanity,
and in this case, also your donkey.
We can probably all relate to
this story in some way because
we all share a common challenge.
The way that the human mind is wired
from evolution means that we're always
going to feel a strong pull to fit
in, be liked and be part of the pack.
But that internal pressure to fit
in means that we will sometimes
deny our own feelings and our own
wisdom instead of listening to them.
So sometimes we do something,
even though it doesn't feel right,
it doesn't make sense to us just
because of other people's opinions.
So part of the invitation of what mindful
living is all about is really cultivating
more self-trust and more authenticity.
In other words, it helps us get more
in touch with ourselves and teaches
us to trust our own authority and
our own direct experience rather than
always relying on the opinions of
others or the direction of others.
So the next time you find yourself
feeling that pressure to conform,
fit in or get others' approval, just
remembering that we don't have to be
defined by other people's expectations
of us or the desire to fit in.
Just trusting that you can be authentic,
stand your ground in what feels wise
and right for you in your heart.
And most importantly, share the real you,
the most authentic you with the world.
As always, thank you for your practice
and your presence here in this community.
Let's settle in for today's meditation.
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