I had dreams last night. Weird strange not so vivid dreams, but weird and odd and I can't even. I do remember at one point I was seeing an old girlfriend and we are talking 25 years ago old. I was pleasant and she wasn't. I simply admitted I was too immature at the time to have been nicer. From there the entire dream broke down into a rush to avoid some manner of demonic presence in the ceiling, in some caves, in a grocery store. It all devolved into hiding out and spending days upon weeks in shelters, before escaping and sealing the evil inside a hole. Some of the people originally lost in the hole emerged later from a shopping mall naked and gone mad. They had been celebrities of some sort. I don't think real ones just in my head.
I remember my old girlfriend though, she had a bob and looked older. I had originally forgotten my dreams as soon as I woke up, but I started my day by checking my email. I had received one form Duolingo which is a language learning app I had signed up for last night. I digress, one of the first word I learned as I checked out the application was close to her name, and my memory was flooded with the dream again.
Anyways, today is moving day at my martial arts club. I'm a little crestfallen because the new space we were supposed to get above the YMCA was slashed. Totally last minute too because our building has already been sold. Now we are scrambling to find storage and a new space to have the club. It is going to be in a big state of flux for awhile. I can't help but think this is related to me and my situation. (That's called personalization, for anyone who got their Cognitive Behavioural Therapy book like I told you to)
HOWEVER, spiritually speaking, it is easy for me to lean into that harder because this challenge reflects the same energy of my own failures and my impending charges. It is a red herring. For those who don't what that means, it is a false path. Why? Because it puts 'me' at the center. Ego.
For that reason we must remain exceptionally vigilant and aware to see when our mind is reenforcing it's own version of existence and consciousness. As a being of essence, as a being of spirit and a being of no time, we don't think about scenarios. We simply are. In that moment as the ever present 'I am'
Don't take it too seriously. You see, as I type this I'm very grounded in my typing but my mind is very active. It is, at this moment, my tool. It does not stay this way for long however; the mind loves a good puzzle and it loves writing, in my case. However it doesn’t like to play second fiddle unless something it enjoys doing is offered up.
Find what your mind likes, be it a puzzle, Sodoku, mathematics, programming; Sink your teeth into that and you'll have a better understanding of why it explodes out of you at particular times. This might be controversial, but I view my mind as a dog. A very mean, uncontrollable dog. I need to muzzle the dog when I take him out. I use a choker chain and it is a short one too. I constantly need to control this dog so he doesn't maul other dogs, or me.
If I take him for regular walks, and feed him at the right times, when we get home I can let him be off leash in the house and he'll play nice with me and sit on the sofa while we watch our favorite shows, and he won't chew the furniture and act out. If I neglect my dogs needs to write and do puzzles and be exercised then he'll wreak my house and maul me.
Once again, don't take that too literally. Dogs don't do puzzles. My dog is a good boy. He listens to me, most of the time. Sometimes when I am sick and can't do my bit, we end up with assault charges. I digress, still a good boy. I case you lost the narrative, the dog is my mind and I, all of us, will be, at some point, subordinate to our minds. This is why drilling routines and habits into the brain and mind are so fundamental to maintaining good spiritual health.
We call it our 'practice' for a reason. Daily. Repetitive. Automatic. If CBT can cure a depressed and addicted person, it can cure a spiritually asleep and listless person too. It's all just stoicism at it's core. The base line, meat and potatoes is just self reflection and stoicism.
If you want to be flashy and learn the big moves without drilling the basic stuff each day, then you will break your knee. Drill the basics. Breathing, sitting silently. Take command of your dog. I'm not saying hit your dog, though I've found that effective for me. (Self harm releases endorphins, but I digress) Something needs to be done to control the mind. In my case I use extreme measures because I have brain damage from my youth. One too many beatings and a few concussions from competitive sailing. Don't use your past as an excuse though.
Our life situations are changeable and fixable and also fallible. What is true today might not be tomorrow, but you routines and our practice can bring us back to healing and moving forward. Have that mindset for yourself. Even the greatest falls from grace provide an opportunity for redemption and spiritual progress. Every challenge is the seed of an opportunity for advancement. It's on us to transmute it and release it again. Think about what the best action is for the world. Think about all the win-win situations you can make for yourself and the world. Do those things. Get out there and make it happen for yourself today.
