Back to basics

All I can do now is return to the basics.

Number 1: Remember to breathe. By which I mean, when I am agitated, irritated or unfocused, I remember that taking in a deep slow breath reminds me to just be present for what is happening.

Number 2: Remember that all things pass. By which I mean, when I am agitated, irritated or unfocused, I can breathe and be present and understand that the source of my fill-in-the-blankness is temporary in spite of feeling like it's the most important and biggest thing in the world.

Number 3: Press on and do something. Passivity is not a long-term plan. By which I mean, when I am agitated....you know the rest; if I don't like the way things are going in my life, I have to do something about it. Breathing helps. Understanding the temporal nature of feelings helps. But waiting for the infinite monkey theorem to take place is not going to help me in this life. So, action is called for.

Number 4: Focus. There is a LOT that has agitated me lately. I'm irritable. I am having difficulty focusing. But I'm getting better, thanks to numbers 1, 2 and 3, so now I bring myself to 4. Get to heart of what is most distressing or most disruptive in my life and tackle that first. Bring focus and get really comfortable with targeting that one thing. Create a plan. Granted, this might encompass many more things than just one thing. But the overarching subject needs to be discerned and focused on.

Number 5: Get to work. Execute. Do it. This may sound grand and it surely could be. But it can also be or feel -- relatively -- quite small. That is not the point. Make a phone call or organize a nation-wide event. Commit to 10 minutes of meditation or run a marathon. Educate yourself or be a spokeswoman for millions. Just do what you want to and need to do to shed the passive feeling and don the active feeling. As the slogan goes, "Just do it" (and for any women out there who want to empower themselves, skip the marketing and consumerism and go straight back to the day when Nike really meant female empowerment).

And, finally, number 6: Go back to number 1.

Back to the basics.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader. I wish you a peaceful heart.