Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 78 – Showing Up

“You gotta play to win!” ~ Famous Lottery Slogan

You again?!

How do you like being greeted like that?  Don’t take it wrong, I’m glad you showed up!  In fact it tells me a lot about your heart and character, your desire to be present, and hunger for personal transformation – that is, making positive changes in your world.

The time you take to consistently, show up and start your day with intentional, focused mindfulness, presence and awareness is the most important ten minutes of your day.  This sets the tone and direction for your next 24 hours, and the more you show up, and consistently, purposefully spend time meditating in Nature (so to speak), creates new neural pathways in the brain and helps you form new habits, that over time literally change you from the inside out. 

This is so crucial in being able to handle tough situations and day-to-day stress and anxiety.  In my meditation practice, I’ve noticed over time, rough situations arise that normally would stress me out, now often feel a bit more removed and manageable, as if I am observing them from above, rather than in the middle of the smoke and fire of battle.  I don’t tend to take things so personal.  It’s a good feeling.

This is a result of growing as a part of a consistent meditation practice.  It’s called personal transformation, and begins the minute you show up!  So congratulations on doing something 99% of the world doesn’t do, and isn’t even aware of – being present.

Day in and day out, the sun joyfully rises, tracking its journey across the sky, from the East to the West, doing what it was created to do – bringing life to this blue dot called planet Earth.  Sure the clouds come, temporarily covering it up, blocking its brightest rays from time to time, but clouds or not, the sun still shows up with amazing regularity.

Seasons do the same.  The cold of winter gives way to the warmth of spring, bringing the first signs of life and beauty to the world.  In time, spring gives way to summer warmth and longer days which, in due time answer to fall and it’s wonderful sensory experience of colors and smells, giving way, once again, to winter, who shows up as before. 

It’s what nature does, and if we are synced with nature, we do the same. 

When we awaken, and become fully present day in and day out, something happens and we begin to see… truly see a myriad of things that used to go by totally unnoticed.  All because we chose to show up.

In his song titled “Awake” singer-songwriter Peter Mayer, (from Minnesota), says

“Clouds are swift, rocks are ancient, mountains are high, oceans grey

Winds are restless, trees are patient, you my child are awake

Waves are crashing, rivers churning, planets twirling, stars ablaze

Storms are raging, atoms whirling, you my child are awake”

© Peter Mayer

Just think, if you and I didn’t show up, we would miss all of this amazing beauty, mystery and wonder!  And that would be tragic indeed…

Photos by Brett Wilson

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