Checking In

Yes, it was work, but I made it through a day watching the inner conversation. Frankly, it was not that hard, but next week when my schedule gets busy, the inner voice will be much more active. And there's a good point. Is this inner voice more active when there's more outside activity?

It seems so. There's simply more agitation possible among large groups of people and fairly continuous interaction. There's also more inner anxiety possible when we meet up with people who have a history of annoying us or when we anticipate situations which have been traditionally stressful. How do we prepare for these? Daily practice in stillness and breathing and even morning meditation can help, but mostly it can't be prepared for: the moment happens and we're there or we're not. I have found the best way to keep still and peaceful is a form of forgiveness, mostly self-forgiveness. I set a goal of remaining present and then forgive myself every time I catch my attention wandering (this is quite often). This continuous forgiveness of myself and others is a door openner to peace.

I'm already forgiving myself for the irrritation of meeting with colleagues next week for a training day that I have found in the past to be mostly useless. This is progress and who knows, it might even be different this time?