Monday, August 15, 2016

Stop, Look, Go - A Lesson from a Gardener

This morning, while pedaling on my exercise bike on my front porch, I watched the gardener arrive at my neighbor’s house across the street, like he always does on Wednesday mornings. But this time, I noticed something I don’t recall seeing before. The driver and passenger stepped out of their clean, white truck with tools neatly organized throughout the bed of the truck, and met in front of the house. Together, they paused, and looked at the property. They stood there, assessing the landscape, quietly at first, and then they began talking back and forth, and pointing around the property. It was as if they were creating a plan of attack, outlining what tasks needed to be done, and who would do what. I was amazed and inspired, because it completely contradicted the “mow and blow” technique I was expecting to see. 

Stop. Look. Go. The gardeners were doing just that. Assessing the landscape. Deciding on what to do, what steps to take, what tools to use. And then going for it. 

How many of us simply move throughout our day, our work, our relationships, our exercise, our tasks, our moment to moment, without taking the time to stop, look and go. Without seizing the opportunity to observe, to set our intentions, to focus our attention, and to literally connect with the opportunity in front of us. Whether it’s checking off an item on our to-do list, helping our child with a math problem, playing a card game with the family, or taking a walk around the block with our dog. Imagine what life might be like if we did what these gardeners were doing!

Here’s a simple exercise that I use to begin each day. I call it PBS - Posture Breath Sequence. 


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