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I seem to be losing the motivation I used to have for all things technology based and marketing related. Part of it I think is that my mind is slowing down intentionally and so my normal multi tasking craziness isn’t working for me anymore. Unfortunately I need to move on some things sooner than later if I want enough income covered to live on if I lose my current gig. That unconscious reality aside, I am seeing a new way more and more clearly everyday because of it. It’s obvious that my observing mind doesn’t need the chaos and that the more observant I become the better life seems to get from a mindfuless perspective.

So, it looks like I need a more purposeful existence. Eckhart Tolle talks about outer and inner purpose in A New Earth. It doesn’t mean we have to have some grand cause for which we work, but rather that we can focus on being more mindful and bringing that into our existence whatever we choose.

That said, I personally have always felt a calling to speak, write, present and preach, but never had the right message to make it possible. Now it seems like I do.

Can I speak to what I’ve learned so far? Yes.

Do I think I’m “ready”? No.

I can speak to the mindful things I’ve done naturally all my life and those that have come easy, but can’t speak to enlightenment per se. I can speak to a happier and easier way of life though and that is definitely important.

So, let’s start here and see where we land. Its not important the how, only the now.

I find that when my bags and jackets have a lot of pockets, I add more and more crap to them and weigh myself down with things I will likely rarely or never will need. This is true in life as well. The more things we have an interest in and the more things we try to occupy our minds with, the more we get bogged down, spread thin, and hopelessly lost in our thoughts. Its too easy to lose track of mindfulness, when you have 20 diversions for your mind. We think that all those pockets will make us better organized, but in fact they just make a bigger mess and more stuff that is disorganized. We have to learn to reduce the pockets in our life and focus on that which is most important – being aware of our racing monkey minds and being aware of our thoughts as they arise. When we reduce our pockets, we reduce our thinking and this in turn allows us to live enlightened existence.

Competition amongst egos seems to be at the core of everything we do as humans, but just a simple reflection on what that reaps, should be enough for any soul to resist, but instead we believe that the death of our ego is inherent in losing ANY competition and on we go fighting to win win win. This is especially true in our silly country where everyone is taught that success only comes through competitiveness.

I saw this vividly recently when my 3 year old was playing soccer. It was wonderful to see that he had learned to be gentle and loving and that his exposure to other kids had not reduced that, but we also wanted him to succeed at the competition in soccer and that meant being aggressive, which he wasn’t inclined to do. When we released his compassion “bonds”, we created a beast and were scared of what we saw, so we had to step back and reflect on the fact that life can’t be a competition, because ultimately there are no winners or losers in life. none.

So, how do we stay mindful of this inherent need to compete in order to save ourselves. I do it with the simple mantra “life is not a competition”, “nobody wins”. Remembering this reminds me that my egotistical thoughts of winning are manufactured and not mindful and it brings me back to mindfulness and presence upon my thoughts.