I sat, writing on my computer, thinking about how much I wish I had grabbed my water bottle before I had sat down. My mouth was parched; my throat itchy-I was so thirsty. But I was lazy enough that I was going to let myself sit there and be uncomfortable. After agonizing over wanting my water for an hour straight, I looked to my left and saw it sitting right next to me.
At times, my laziness gets the best of me. My meditation practice, or lack there of, is a shining example. Every time I think about meditating, the little voice inside me says, “Maybe the house is too cold… maybe someone will call or knock on the door… perhaps I’m just too tired and I would just fall asleep if I tried it.” Sure, I make excuses-who doesn’t. I’d like to believe them-who wouldn’t?
Unfortunately, I remember the first time I truly decided to start meditating. My freshman year of college, I went to an early morning meditation/prayer group and we sat in silence. At least I think we sat in silence, I don’t remember because I fell asleep at the beginning. As the group came to a close, I jerked suddenly awake. The day was Sept 11, 2001. I walked back to my dorm room; as I entered my room, I learned that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center had been hit with two hijacked airliners while I was asleep when I should have been meditating.
One would think that this particular experience would make me leap into a regular meditation practice almost immediately, seeing as what happened when I slept through it. However, it had the opposite effect. This experience has shied me into thinking that a regular meditation practice is out of my reach. Or maybe it gave me an excuse to continue being lazy. But I think I’ve got hope for 2010. Yes, 2010 is a promising year.
Do Your Om Thing 