Last week, I decided to do another Spartan Race. My training hasn’t quite kicked into high gear yet. It seems that my training obstacles are those of everyday life (work, family, illness). For now, I cruise along in low gear and look for motivation anywhere that I can find it. Today, it was this tire on the football field. I couldn’t even budge it a teeny-tiny bit. But I tried a few times.
It’s been an interesting week. While I wrestle with criticism on my newest venture, I celebrate finally being recognized for my efforts at the office. The latter feels good and I don’t mind quite as much when my workload carries me past the usual quitting time.
Today, I take a break from it all to walk at lunch — with camera in hand. I’m not here to run but I end up on the track anyway. I am sure the young men on the football field wondered what I was doing kneeling on the track. I didn’t quite get the image I was after, but it sure was fun to seek out new ways of looking at the everyday experience.
Perhaps it will help me to look at my criticism in a different way and turn it into something positive.
I picked up a plastic bag from the street on my way to the college. As I walked, I noticed more and more trash that wasn’t disposed of (or recycled) appropriately. It made me sad to see such a lack of responsibility for our environment. I found myself picking up several more items as I journeyed. Some of the items were right beside the garbage/recycling receptacles. SERIOUSLY?
If you miss the trash, pick it up!
I took great pride as I left the yoga studio after teaching on Sunday. I’d subbed quite a few classes over the holiday break but this class was my own. It was an opportunity which I knew was rare. I reflected back to the time and effort to which I invested in developing what I deemed to be a creative yet thoughtful yoga sequence, including a theme pertinent to the peak pose(s), and accompanying music playlist. I was proud of what I had created. In my mind, I showed up to teach with my best and, although it didn’t go perfectly, it seemed that my students were receptive and gracious at the end of class.
So you can imagine my emotional reaction when I came to discover that at one of my students had expressed extreme disappointment in their experience. To say that I was crushed would be an understatement.
The yoga sutras say that yoga should be practiced with dedication but without any attachment to the outcome. It seems that I was indeed attached to the outcome. As such, I had a hard time reconciling what to do next. I don’t want to be a quitter, but I don’t want to tarnish the reputation of the yoga studio that I have come to call home. I love it here and want others to do the same. [Read more…]
eternal refreshment, wisdom, virtue.
mint