I’ve been reading the wonderful book Stilness is the Key by Ryan Holiday. In it, he makes the argument that various religious, spiritual, and philosophical schools have made, namely that we need to slow down, survey the inner self, and work to be fully present, engaged, and mindful in our lives and work.
Just this week, I had an incident where I allowed my three E’s – emotions, ego, and expectations – to cloud my judgement, cause me to lose sight of the bigger picture, and let my anger seep into my family life. It has the expected outcomes, hurt emotions, stress, and unnecessary drama.
It was also an important lesson and reminder to me to shut down. Turn off anything to do with work. To remind myself that my current job is just one more step in my career, and my job shouldn’t affect my emotions. I bring my weather with me, so to speak.
How much better would our lives and our world be if we all committed to taking time, each day, to sit with our thoughts and be still and be present? What insights could gleam? What picture could we paint for our lives? There’s a lesson worth learning.
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