"...in the present there is always a space as vast as the steppes waiting to be filled up with more love and with more of life's joy." - The Zahir by Paulo Coelho
On Monday and part of Tuesday this past week, my stress from work was manifesting itself in terrible pain in my shoulders and upper back. I felt short of breath, mentally clouded and the mobility in my neck was limited. All of this was, of course, drastically impeding any progress I was trying to make at work, causing this awful negative spiral. Quite unpleasant.
I have been reading The Zahir, recommended by the awesome Cristina, and have had to read slowly to fully contemplate the intense lessons at work. Similar to The Omnivore's Dilemma, this is the type of book that I would (and maybe have) chased people around to relentlessly tell them how good it is. Seriously, read it, you'll love it.
While reading it, I have learned a lot, but mostly noticed that I put a lot of effort into tuning in to the present moment. Previously, yoga practice and teachers have told me to pay attention to the now, but I mostly heard this advice while I was on my mat suffering through, I mean, getting stronger with, each pose.
The Zahir gets credit for pushing me to apply that lesson to the rest of my life too. I mean really, in the United States, we spend roughly 230 days each year at work, give or take based on your holiday/vacation schedule. Regardless of how you feel about your job - love it, hate it, or love/hate it - it is going to cause stress for you and potentially people in your family/your roommates or neighbors. Of course, coworkers and supervisors can be difficult, projects can go off track or be delayed. BUT since Tuesday, I have found it enormously helpful to focus my energy on how I respond to the situation and what good things have happened that day. (This amazing weather and commuting on my new, awesome and as yet unnamed bike is making this task particularly easy, for now.)
Overnight, I gained a sense of control of dealing with anyone or anything in the best way that I can given the circumstances. I lost that gross feeling in my shoulders. I can fully move my neck again! I have realized that I literally do not want to spend any more of my time - at work, at home, or anywhere in between - taking on stress and allowing it to color the rest of my time. I have sort of a lot of time left on the Earth, hopefully, so I want to be smart and happy about how I spend it. Overall, I feel a great sense of possibility and ...freedom.
"Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me." - The Zahir by Paulo Coelho
YAY! So you're the 2nd person I've recommended it to, and it's been affirming and a bit life-changing (as lame as that sounds) for both. I think about that book, about the way we hold on to experiences from before and allow them to color our experience of the presence...all the time. When I'm feeling cynical I relate it to those people who pay thousands of dollars to listen to some new-age b.s. seminar about how they can stop bad things from happening to them if they just *believe*, and the rest of the time I tell myself not to be so cynical. What a wonderful book. I've read 2-3 others...but this is the first one I'd say actually changes the way I look at the world.
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