Don't Worry, Prepare. | Lanre Dahunsi

We don’t rise to the level of our goals and intentions, we fall to the level of our preparation and training. We play the way we train, sweat hard in training and game day will be a breeze. Anytime I tell most people about my newest challenge, such as running a sub-3 hours marathon or participating in my first Iron Man, most people remind me how hard the task is, and I usually smile. I am generally not worried about the challenge because I am constantly training to motivate myself to achieve the goal. As the saying goes, “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.” Whether it is reaching a fitness goal or a business objective, the key is to stay prepared and always be prepared to get the got done.

Meditations

Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt – Poetry

In 1966 the Academy of American Poetry dedicated April as national poetry month. Research have found that writing about emotional pain improves our immune system, it can also reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. The experience of writing and reading poetry can have a powerful healing effect.

Poetry allows us to dive more deeply into our emotional depth and put words into what is happening within. When dialoging with others, words can be hard to find, let alone speak. But when we speak in a quiet place and pick up a pen, we create a space for our feelings to flow through us, connecting with our heartache, grief, gratitude, or joy.

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”― Robert Frost

Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Accept the Darkness

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. But we don’t always have a candle to light, which is ok. Because sometimes, life is about accepting that darkness. It can weigh us down when we are struggling, or others are. We live a world that prices agency and our ability to make things happen and when you can’t that can be hard. And that can lead to a feeling of powerless or defeat. Accepting things doesn’t mean you are doing nothing; it doesn’t mean not acting to create change.

Instead of projecting into the future, we need to be patient. Sometimes it is more like two steps forward and one step back. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice.” Sometimes, change occurs so slowly that it’s imperceptible. When things matter to us, it can feel wrong to accept the situation, but if we can release our resistance towards what is, we can ultimately make it through. To sustain and endure with compassion for ourselves and the world.

We are never totally powerless over a situation because we can always control how we interact. Sometimes, we can light a candle or hang string light to alleviate the darkness. But other times, we need to find a way to accept it, knowing that eventually; the sun will rise again. The three phases of self-compassion, as outlined by psychologist Kristin Neff, say to yourself:

This is a moment of discomfort or stress, mindfully acknowledging and accepting whatever is present.
Acknowledge that discomfort, stress or any form of suffering is a part of life. It is part of our common humanity; you are not alone.
May I be kind to myself at this moment?

Daily Trip with Jeff Warren – Always coming Home

We often focus about the destination, a place where we can finally settle. In real life, we tend to wander. Sometimes, deliberately, accidentally, we get distracted, interrupted, we forget and then we remember and come home.

Podcast