Attitude First & Foremost

     “To be relaxed and in the right frame of mind is of prime importance. Everything else comes later. To recognize whether or not you are in the right frame of mind is more important than experiencing peaceful states or having a ‘good sit’ ” writes meditation teacher Tejaniya.

     What general principles can we immediately take from these words?

     Being 'relaxed' here refers to a balanced state of attentiveness, neither strained nor slack. Like a guitar string tuned just right (neither sharp nor flat), our perception is most accurate when we're emotionally balanced. 

     'Peaceful states' and 'good sits' are goals. Let's face it, many of us are goal-oriented perfectionists. But we know that students preoccupied with getting an 'A+' or runners preoccupied with crossing the finish-line first, cannot possibly perform as well as if they were embracing the process by which to achieve these goals. By embracing the process, I do imply an open-hearted engagement with the activity itself, with the least egoic interference.

     Letting go of eagerness to achieve a goal eg getting the golf ball into the hole, and letting go of fear of embarrassment of really messing up a golf shot in front of others, trusting muscle memory to do its own thing with the least amount of ego noise, markedly improves quality of life as well as performance.

     Isn't this a tricky, slowly-learned life-lesson? Embracing whatever life offers with curiosity, an open mind, and a somewhat mysterious confidence that I can and will grow from this too? 
     How does embracing each moment of life - even for a few moments - feel, compared to our usual, anxious, future-oriented, striving mode?