When I was a teenager I was once told I was “influence-able”. I would find inspiration from the actions and reasoning of others, mainly famous people, to stir my life in a specific direction. To me this was just inspiration and found nothing bad about it, yet the way this was told to me suggested I wasn’t capable of making my own choices.
Fast forward over 20 years and I find myself doubting whether finding a story, a TV show, a piece of music reasonable mediums from where to find inspiration in the direction I want to take my own life towards. But inspiration is what it is and you cannot decide where it will spring. Sometimes it takes just the right tone or elements of a story to elevate your commitment to become something, someone better. And if these influences stir us in the right direction to improve our lives, to find serenity then surely there is nothing to be ashamed about where these influences came from because someone sneered at us once, a long time ago.
And as it happens this is where I find myself now, having to spend a little time to shut down that voice once and for all so I may focus on my newly found inspiration to improve my own life, my own health, physical and mental and therefore in return improve the lives of others around me.
Last week I started to do some Yoga for the first time. Now I find myself drawn to Tai Chi, or Qi Gong (or both) and I am reminded that there are more than one meditation practices and that sometimes you need to find a way to still the body before you attempt to still the mind. This is the path I intend to explore in the weeks and months to come. Where it takes me doesn’t matter, if I’ve learnt one thing with taking on a journey is that it is done by putting one foot in front of the next, one step at a time.
The Dhamma is everywhere 