Starting again

Back again. I was off track - again - and whenever I think about how much better I felt when I was meditating and doing other practices, I vowed to start again. Being calm and even-tempered is much better than being moody. Instead of meditating just in the evenings, I am, as of this morning, doing a morning and evening meditation. This is important for when we go overseas for volunteering. Culture shock and loss of conveniences will be eased if I feel better internally. I fully intend to do a morning and evening meditation while away. I have never been a morning person, but when away I expect we will get up early and go to bed early.

I would dearly love our placement to be in Thailand or Cambodia due to the population being mainly Buddhist. However, hub who is the actual volunteer feels drawn to helping in Africa. I guess his vote wins.

Next weekend I will be on my own and will do a Day of Mindfulness. I did this the last time hub was away in London and it went quite well for a first try. So I'll take advantage of this and do so again.

I'm re-listening to Quiet Mind podcasts while I'm driving. They do make me think and re-focus.

The need to argue and be right

Well, I've extricated myself from an online *news* forum that had been taking up too much of my time for the last couple of weeks. Don't know why I want to debate unwinnable topics with people who are so ignorant....homophobes, those against smoking bans, evangelicals, bush supporters. Certainly didn't help me toward my goals of peacefulness and mindfulness. The amount of ignorance, bigotry, hate and just plain stupidity is astounding, although I don't know why it surprises me. I will admit to having a bit of fun with good sarcastic retorts. And I did enjoy reading many highly intelligent and articulate posts.

But that's it. I've logged out and won't go back on.....

Why?

sigh....I should be reading my Thich Nhat Hanh books, re-listening to podcasts, and meditating...probably coming up with more mindfulness days (or blocks of time). What am I doing instead? I'm arguing with people on the internet. And it's arguments I'll never win...just banging my head against a brick wall. What is the point of talking to narrow-minded people, like fundamentalist christians, homophobes, smokers who are against a ban on public smoking, Bush supporters, and people who think pagans have no rights. I'd say it's a total waste of time, except that I am *in the moment* when I argue with these brainless sheep....ok, ok....not a good excuse...

Back again.....

Haven't been doing my practices....no excuses but trying not to condemn myself either. As they say, just pick yourself up and start again.

My meditation mat is still in it's usual place and I'll be sitting tonight. Will consolidate the most helpful Quiet Mind podcasts into one CD to listen to in the car. I always feel more motivated and ready to get back on track when I listen to these.