I’m a creature of habit. If you know me you might have laughed at that. 
#TRUTH – Even though I’m addicted to chaos, churn, and change, I crave the comfort of certain constants. My wife, my dog, my coffee, my spot on the couch (next to my wife with our dog in the middle), etc. and my early morning workouts.
I’m up well before the sun every day and the first thing I need is PT. But over the last few years – more than the soul crushing, anger fueled sweatfest of days gone by, I need at least 6 minutes of mindfulness (usually 12 though – 6 with a timer and 6 of affirmations).
As I said – creature of habit.
I spend somewhere between 20 and 60 minute’s working out. Some days nothing more than light warm ups and stability work. Some days my inner NCO comes out and smokes the shit out of me. BUT without fail…
The hardest 6 minutes of my entire workout is usually the first 6-minutes in the sauna (or anywhere quiet when I travel). As the stereotypical ADD kid who’s enjoyed a life of chaos and stress, my mind is one f’d up and busy place.
Like many others I know, some things from the past play over and over like a highlight reel of everything that didn’t go well. I also have numerous things that cause anxiety about the future and my inner creative runs wild with all the ways to fill an empty day on the calendar.
So I struggle so much with staying in the present moment.
Mindfulness and meditation are a slugfest for me – a streetlight in my own mind. Of course, I give myself grace when I’m not successful but it really is the hardest, most challenging part of my day. Just sitting quietly.
The time I spend in meditation is hard work but I notice a huge difference in my productivity, grace, and joy between the days I do the work and the days I don’t.
I wanted to share this because I know I’m not alone.
If you’ve tried meditation in the past and gave up because you weren’t “good at it” right away, try again, and keep trying until it doesn’t matter whether you’re “good at it” or not.
Something happens when you spend a few minutes of your day intentionally being kind to yourself; giving yourself grace and accepting you for who you are that is truly empowering.
If you’re anything like me – after 6 or 12 minutes of being in my own mind, the rest world can’t do shit to me..
