A Moment of Zen

I’m not nearly as Zen as I’d like to be – I actually subscribed to a “Zen Thought of the Day” email service earlier in the year and mostly the things they sent me just confused me. Every once in a while there would be a really extraordinary tidbit. For example, earlier this week my email contained the Zen saying “Nothing is left to you at this moment but to have a good laugh!” Isn’t that just the truth? There are many times when I’m at my wit’s end with whatever I’m working on and what I really need to do is take a step back and have a good long laugh about the predicament I’ve gotten myself into.

But then a day later, my Zen thought of the day was this one:

When worn out
and seeking an inn:
Wisteria flowers!
Bashō

Not sure what to do with that one. I never did understand Haiku.

In my web travels last night I followed a link, then followed another link and wound up at the Zen Habits blog reading How to be Insanely Productive and Still Keep Smiling. I’m no stranger to zenhabits.com, I’ve subscribed off and on to their feed because I can only handle so much Zen, I guess. I’m not sure what the opposite of Zen is, exactly. I think it’s PMS.

In the article I found item #1 about “making peace within” especially poignant because it’s a cycle I find myself in frequently. I caught this little snippet at the end and made a mental note to try it out today.

Tip: Wear an elastic wristband. Whenever you notice negative thoughts, change your wristband to the other arm. This will help you to create and maintain peace within.

When I got to the office this morning I grabbed a rubber band out of my desk drawer and affixed it to my wrist. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge, right? So far I’ve moved it to the other wrist about four times. I may get nothing else done today except move this wristband back and forth. Was that a negative thought? I should probably move it just to be sure.

I liked the other tips in the article, too. I’m not sure that I can entirely get behind item #2, about pushing myself right to the edge. I need to reserve a fraction of my capacity for those crazy Kardashian sisters, afterall. But I do need to start taking action – when I set a goal, I need to make sure that I follow through with a plan so I can accomplish it. I think I’m getting better about this (see yesterday’s post about 3.25 miles). Also, I would love nothing more than to spend more time doing what I love, and loving what I do. That’s actually a goal of mine, one that I need to create a plan for – and follow through on. Hopefully moving this rubber band back and forth less and less as I go.