Extinguish the Fires [...]

Extinguish the fires with compassion, joy, and equanimity. 

This intention emerged from meditation practice at the start of my work day. It is curious to see the seedlings that sprout within our own minds when we provide it time and inspiration (in this case, a guided meditation on mindful leadership with Marc Lesser). To me, such creative insight is a beautiful result of spending some quiet time in the practice before jumping into the work.

I come into the office this morning with concerns that require my immediate attention in order to keep things on track - a fire. Part me jumps into judgmental mode - why did we not prevent this? Part of me feels annoyed - uggh. Part of me jumps into control mode - I need to intervene and fix this. However, stepping back to gain perspective, these knee-jerk reactions are probably not the most effective approaches.

To re-set my mind and heart with intention, then, allows me to show up in these spaces in a way that better reflects my values and principles. To reframe judgment as compassion - how can I be helpful to others in this situation? To reframe annoyance as joy - variety is the spice of life! To reframe control as equanimity - what is the best way to remedy the situation?

Extinguish the fires with compassion, joy, and equanimity. I like it. Had I jumped right into the day mindlessly, right into the fire as it were, I would have done so blindly without insight.

PS - After writing this blog, I approached my concerns mindfully. Turns out the fire was not actually a fire at all. Would you look at that - part of me was getting all worked up over nothing. Shocking. And to think, I was on the verge of making a mountain out of a molehill. Surprise!