Opportunity Gap

A mindful practice enlivens the part of us that sees our experience more clearly. It disentangles - if imperfectly - all the layers of our thinking and feeling minds by noticing - to an extent - all the layers of our thinking and feeling minds. Layers such as fear, biases, and ego. 

From this vantage point, we examine - as best we can - how closely aligned are our actions with our aspirations, our intentions with our impacts, our perceptions of our work with others' perception of our work. The first thing we notice is how entangled in fear, bias and ego our minds truly are. It is what it is. 

But when we notice the challenge of our mind situation, and view a gap between how things are and how we aspire things to be, then we have opportunity. It is a creative space that empowers us to choose realistic steps that we can take to bring our actuality and our aspirations into closer and closer alignment. We do so with equanimity, not with judgment. Being human is not about perfection, it is about continual growth. 

What then are the antidotes that we need to cultivate through meditation practice? To see what we fear and choose courage instead. To see our biases and choose clarity instead. To see our ego and choose light-hearted humility instead. This takes practice. Sit down, breathe, and be present.