Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, I'm going to talk about

exploring where our conditioning

might be holding us back.

So there's a really

interesting story about this.

A successful Western businessman was

visiting a small Mexican village.

So he was relaxing on the pier one

day and there he met a fisherman.

The businessmen complimented the

Mexican fisherman on the quality of

his fish and said, "Hey, how long

did it take you to catch these?

he asked.

"Just a little while,"

the Mexican replied.

"Well, the day is young.

Why don't you stay out

longer and catch more fish?"

the businessman asked.

"Well, I have enough here to

support my family's immediate

needs," said the fisherman.

"But what are you going to do

with the rest of your time?"

said the businessmen.

"Oh," the fishermen said.

"Well, I sleep in each day.

I enjoy cuddles with my wife

before the kids wake up.

Then I eat.

Then I play with the kids.

And then I come fishing for awhile.

And then when I come home,

I stroll into the village.

I meet some friends.

I play guitar and I sing and dance.

I have a very full and busy life."

The American rolled his eyes and

said, 'Listen, I'm a Harvard MBA.

I can help you.

You need to spend more time fishing.

And then with the extra profit, you could

buy a better boat and then you can get

bigger yields of fish and bigger profits.

And as your profits grow, then

you can buy a fleet of boats.

After that, you can leave this small

Mexican village and move to Mexico City.

You could expand your operation and

achieve your maximum potential."

So after pausing thoughtfully,

the Mexican asked, "Okay.

And then what?"

The businessman said,

"This is the best part.

When the time is right, you can

sell your company, become rich."

"Ah," said the Mexican.

"Then what?"

The businessman paused at that point,

and then slowly replied, "Oh, well,

then you could retire to a small coastal

village where you would sleep in every

day, spend quality time with your wife

and kids, fish a little and go to the

village in the evenings where you could

hang with your friends and play guitar."

So what's the moral of this story?

Sometimes we really need to stop and

investigate our own conditioning,

our own assumptions, right?

Just like the fisherman who questioned

the businessman, sometimes it pays to

stop and question ourselves because as

we go through life, we pick up beliefs

and thoughts and opinions from the world

around us that aren't always bringing us

closer to the things we most value, like

happiness, inner peace, health, and love.

So we can question ourselves by

pausing each day to simply take stock.

Asking ourselves questions like: Am

I living in alignment with my values?

Am I doing the kinds of

things that genuinely make me

happy in my day-to-day life?

Am I focused on what matters

to me deep down in my heart?

So by questioning ourselves like

this, we can start to free ourselves

of our old conditioning, live much

more intentionally and authentically,

and of course, also more mindfully.

So I encourage you to ask yourself some

of these questions . And as always, thank

you for your practice and your presence.

Let's settle in for meditation.