Living is More Fun…

“To know what you are doing is the most important thing.” 
-Shunryu Suzuki

Living is more fun the less you think about it.

When the light turns red, you step on the brake pedal without thinking. To catch a ball, all you have to do is look at it until it’s in your hand. 

Remember when you dropped something, then snatched it mid-air? What “did” the snatching? In-the-moment attention.

Thinking is the enemy of doing. 

To be aware of, or know what you are doing, is the best way to do everything. A few examples…

Petting an animal
Drying off after a shower
Cracking open an egg
Balancing a fork-load of food on its way to your mouth

Upon noticing your shoulders, they relax. When you become aware of troublesome thoughts, they stop. A shift of attention was the remedy in both cases. Take note of the peaceful state, even for a moment, when you know you are not thinking.

That peaceful state is always present, just under the thoughts. It is there when you consciously stop thinking. 

To feel it, even for a moment, is refreshing.

Shunryu Suzuki

Thinking about what isn’t happening, in the present moment, creates all problems. How many times have you realized that worrying about something was not only useless, but debilitating? 

Because silence is inherently peaceful, nothing is better than silence to purify and strengthen your mind. 

Think when it’s helpful, of course, like when planning a meal or selecting your daily outfit. Otherwise, when quietly active, enjoy the peace that is within you, always guiding you.

Freedom from mind-created problems is the advantage of living in awareness. On a diet of pure awareness, living governs itself.

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Each Monday, I’ll post a new topic in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living, or: “how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.” 

Thanks for coming in.