I was having a bad day the other day. Or rather, I had started off that way. I had a bunch of things on my mind, worries, expectations, all sorts of shenpa.
Then, I remembered what I had done just a few hours before. When I woke up, my very first verbalized thought of the day was, "Oh good, another one."
Another what? Another day to be alive, experience whatever the day has for me, good or bad.
It's something I have done literally every single day since 1 Saturday morning when I was 13 years old.
I can't tell you the exact day I started. I can't even tell you why I started. I don't know. This was decades before I had ever heard of mindfulness, taoism, Buddhism, Alan Watts, or Pema Chodron.
But I'm glad I did. When I really turn and look at it, that long ago day was the beginning of my practice.
Some days that practice goes so smoothly. I'm at ease, peaceful, content. Other days, it's like falling out of a tree and hitting every branch on the way down, before landing hard, on my back with the wind knocked out of me.
That practice is happening, I'm engaged in doing it, all the time .
When I remembered this, and saw the shenpa I was hooked by, I gently smiled, and laughed at myself.
I felt instantly better.