Mindfulness

We measure our days by what we do. We measure our lives by who we are. Our daily “to-do” list is stuffed full of urgency. I feel such a rush when I’ve crossed off the last item on my list (i.e, picking up my dry cleaning). At the end of the day, though, it’s just a sugar rush.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr crafted this well-known and loved invocation during the Great Depression, and it’s become a touchstone of the global twelve-step community.

Meditation master Chogyam Trungpa suggests, “Self-deception often arises because you are afraid of your own intelligence and afraid you won’t be able to deal properly with your life. You are unable to acknowledge your innate wisdom. Instead, you see wisdom as a monumental thing outside yourself.

Herbert Nitsch is the free diving champion of the world (and at age 49 a certified Modern Elder) who managed to take a single giant breath and hold it for just under ten minutes as he dove down to 800 feet into the Aegean Sea. Brain cells begin to die at one minute of held breath. At three minutes most human would be dead. And yet many of us go through our daily lives unconsciously holding or restricting our breath.

Our uniquely American tradition is derided by many today, but the spirit of this day is dedicated to gratitude. And, I know no Modern Elder role model who exemplifies gratitude more than 93-year-old Brother David Steindl-Rast who taught me that becoming more curious would make me more wise as I got older. In celebration of Thanksgiving, I offer you this lovely 5-minute video from Brother David called “A Grateful Day.”

One of the first decisions a writer makes when writing a novel is to decide if he or she wants to write in the present tense or past tense. Either choice works, and it’s purely a matter of preference. The biggest mistake is going back and forth between tenses—not knowing when the action is taking place, which often confuses the reader.

Before you head to Kentucky for your new life as a whiskey connoisseur, I’m talking about distilling wisdom. It’s a simple recipe: Wisdom is knowledge distilled. And as we move from the age of “knowledge workers” to “wisdom workers,” it’s required that we each learn how to mine our own special brand of moonshine.

Being a mentor begins by teaching ourselves how to be present for those who show up in our lives. This is easier said than done. We have become a society of technological screen addicts who treasure multitasking and productivity over genuine interactions with others. Somewhere along the line, we have transferred multi-tasking from our jobs to the relationships in our lives. We keep one eye on the person we’re with, and one eye on the door. And if not the door, the cellphone, the next appointment, the piece of chocolate pie.