Sunday Story...Practice

Sunday Story…Practice

Over the years, I have found the answer to a lot of questions to be: Practice. If you want your performance to be mistake free: Practice. If you want to get good at something, anything: Practice. If you want to be a master, a virtuoso: Practice.

There is also the practice of doing something. I may have a yoga practice or a medical or dental practice. This is to say that I am doing that thing repeatedly on a daily basis. So I have, in essence, a yoga habit. I have a medical habit; I do it repeatedly on a daily basis. I have a work out habit, a work out practice.

We become what we do repeatedly. No you are not going to become down dog or crow pose but you might become a yogi or yogini (someone who practices yoga). But then not everyone who does yoga has a yoga practice and not everyone who does yoga is a yogi or a yogini. So what separates the doer from the practitioner? What makes the difference between the fighter and the martial artist, between the painter and the artist, between the horseman and the equestrian?

In a word: Intent.

What do you do every day? You live. You get up, go do something, then some more things, then some more things, eat a few times, maybe relax a bit and go to bed. Tomorrow more of the same. Lather, rise, repeat. Go to the gym today…it’s Thursday and I must go get on the bike for 45 minutes. That’s what “they” say will keep me healthy so I go grab a magazine or my iPod and zone out for 45 minutes on the exercise bike, treadmill, whatever you hamster wheel is. “They” told you that was what was needed so there you go. Friday, something else”they” told you to do. Eating food “they” told you to eat. This week no carb, next week, no fat, next week cabbage soup, next week pineapple. No intention, no motivation…is it a habit, sure. So is brushing your teeth or putting on clean socks but that doesn’t mean you are actually practicing brushing your teeth, or eating with intention, or working out with intention or dressing with intention.

Intention changes everything. So does the awareness of what it is you are doing. Because if you are practicing mindless, by the numbers stuff your life will become a mindless by the numbers sort of life. Maybe you are OK with that…just going through and taking whatever life gives you and just doing whatever you can to get through until tomorrow.

So what are you practicing today?
Are you practicing eating good quality meal prepared with love and care or are you practicing throwing some junk down your pie-hole standing in front of the sink?
Are you practicing increasing your health and fitness through working out or are you practicing by exercising in some mindless robotron way?
Are you practicing living intentionally or are you practicing living by default…whatever you get handed?

You don’t have to have an intentional intention. You are creating intention by practicing what you are doing everyday…surfing the web and wasting time…or intentionally seeking out new knowledge? Your tomorrow’s are being determined right now…by how intentional you are doing what you are doing right now. Wonder why you aren’t in better shape? How is your intention when you exercise? Do you approach every workout with the intention to be better than the last one---faster, stronger, better? Wonder why your nutrition plan isn’t working? Do you approach every meal with the intention to fuel your body with the healthiest, cleanest food you can possibly put in your body? If not, why not?

Why not, indeed? What is stopping you from having intention? You are going to love this…you can guess, I know you can guess…what is the thing that is stopping you from living and intentional life, from intentional building the body, the fitness, the health you want, from having the nurturing, kind and loving relationships you desire?

Practice.

That’s right you must practice intention. I can practice leaving dirty dishes in the sink or I can practice cleaning up after myself immediately. I can get up in the morning and start running after all the mundane tasks and jobs that come up with no intention or plan. Or I can get up intentionally and practice eating with mindfulness, doing my work with the intention to provide my employer and clients with the best possible experience possible, and practicing living my life with intention.

How are you going to do this? How are you going to shift into an intentional life? Start by deciding to be intentional. Then become aware of what it is you are doing. Do you really want that 3rd cup of coffee? Do you really need to stay up an extra ½ hour just to watch that program? What is the intention, what will you get, how will doing that activity move you forward toward your intentional life? After the decision and the awareness we can begin to hone our intentionality. Is it possible to be intentional about brushing your teeth? Yes. Is it possible to be intentional every time you walk into your office? Yes. Is it possible to take every meal with intention? How about every bite? What would happen, how would your life be different if everything that passed between your lips was the result of intention or had conscious intention behind it? Every word going out was intentional, every drink, every bite of food intention as to its purpose? What would life look like if that was your practice?

Practice intentionality. It’s simple, really, just not easy.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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