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Ever get locked out of your own house?
Karen here again, sharing something silly (and slightly annoying) that I did.
You’d think that by now, I’d have enough life experience to avoid these kinds of occurrences, but here we are.
And I have no one to blame but myself.
After the initial heart-sinking moment and a mildly desperate check to see if I could break in (I could not, which was both annoying and reassuring), I had no choice but to pause and take stock of my situation.
A therapeutic skill I learned long ago and often use is S.T.O.P.
• Stop.
• Take a step back.
• Observe.
• Proceed mindfully.
Every time I utilise this skill, I’m amazed at the difference just stopping and taking one breath can make
So, I took a breath. My phone was inside, but I had my AirPods in. I could call a friend for help, which I did, but they couldn’t get to me for an hour.
I had an appointment to get to, places to be, a schedule to stick to… STOP.
I tried using Siri to call and reschedule, but she was being uncooperative. So, faced with an hour of unexpected stillness and no control over how the rest of my day would unfold, I sat down and took another breath.
As a meditation practitioner and teacher, I’d love to tell you I spent that hour in a serene state of mindful presence. But I am human, and what I did for the next hour was sit in icky discomfort.
I decided that tidying up the weeds in my garden would be a good mindful practice. I got going, only to find my mind wandering straight back to frustration, thinking that maybe I could try Siri one more time; I just needed to word it better…
STOP.
Focus.
Let it go.
Back to the gardening.
And I had to do this many, many times. Because I am human.
Meditation and mindfulness aren’t about becoming immune to life’s inconveniences. They’re about meeting yourself as you are and choosing how to respond to life's ups and downs. And we don’t have to 'get it right’. The only thing these practices ask of us is that we show up for ourselves in all our perfectly imperfect humanness.
Yes, I was locked out. Yes, I was late. But I was also given an opportunity to pause, breathe, and practice in real time what I have spent my life exploring. And that is a rare opportunity.
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