Zen and the art of raking.Some things I've learned this summer
Wow. What a summer. It went by way too quickly, and I accomplished very little on my own personal to-do list, including writing. I was going to submit my book to publishers, I was going to write some more on my 2nd one, and really deep clean my house. But, things took an unexpected turn. Mostly at our property. But this was a good unexpected turn. We got the tractor again this year (thanks will never be enough for the generosity of the friend that loaned it to us), and we were just going to do a little road work with it, and maybe clear the area where our future garage might go. Well, this is where the unexpected turn comes in. We not only worked on the roads, but we got 2 garage pads built up, and the house pad. This gets us one step closer to actually being able to live out there. Yay!!
So what does this have to do with raking rocks? Everything. Those of you who have been following this know that there are bazillions of rocks of all sizes at our property. So. Many. Rocks. I had been fairly certain we were done dealing with them. I was wrong. And the best way to get rid of them? Rake them into piles and push them into the tractor bucket. The mere thought of doing this made my body hurt. I hated raking rocks. But, I did it anyway. And, for a long time, I hated it. It hurt, it was hard, it sucked. Then, as my husband is watching me one day, he said to me "You know, your posture is all wrong, your mindset is all wrong." I narrowed my eyes at him, skeptical, but knowing he was going to tell me how I could do it better. And he did. He told me that I needed to tuck my tailbone in, forcing my core to be balanced, bend my knees and allow my shoulders to be relaxed. Then he said that I need to think of the rake as an extension of myself and not something that I have to use, that way, it would move naturally with my body. I cried, saying there was no way I could do this. I got upset, I quit talking. But, naturally, I did what he said. I almost always do, because he is almost always right. And he was. Suddenly, it became easier, my upperback and shoulders quit hurting, and the rocks went into the bucket faster. I was amazed.
No, astonished is the correct word. So, then, I got to thinking, what other things in my life are unnecessarily hard just because I am holding my body wrong? I spent the next several days of raking contemplating this. I began to realize that the way I was holding my body was what was causing my tension in virtually every part of my body, my jaw included. I did a reality check, my core was weak, I was compensating by holding my body incorrectly, causing so much pain elsewhere. So, I started to try to hold my body differently, and things started to change, things hurt less. I realize I still need to work on strengthening my core, but already things are feeling better.
Then, I thought even more, what if these same kinds of things are thought patterns too. What if I am holding on to some sort of thought pattern that is holding me back? Of course there was. I have read that often certain mindsets prevent you from moving forward in your life, so I started to change my thinking. Not an easy task, but, I started small, like thinking about 3 things I am grateful on a daily basis. That is one that is plastered all over Facebook and other social media. And most people probably just skip past those, but what if you took it seriously? What if you really tried it? I did, and things changed, some of my negative thoughts that I never even realized were there started to fade away. More positive thoughts took their place. And, I started to believe that my goals were attainable. I started to believe that we would be living on our property sooner rather than later. I started to believe that I could actually be a successful writer. I started to believe that I could do well as a reading therapist.
I am still working on some mental obstacles, but things are starting to come together for me in ways I never believed possible. All because I changed the way I held my body while raking rocks.
So what does this have to do with raking rocks? Everything. Those of you who have been following this know that there are bazillions of rocks of all sizes at our property. So. Many. Rocks. I had been fairly certain we were done dealing with them. I was wrong. And the best way to get rid of them? Rake them into piles and push them into the tractor bucket. The mere thought of doing this made my body hurt. I hated raking rocks. But, I did it anyway. And, for a long time, I hated it. It hurt, it was hard, it sucked. Then, as my husband is watching me one day, he said to me "You know, your posture is all wrong, your mindset is all wrong." I narrowed my eyes at him, skeptical, but knowing he was going to tell me how I could do it better. And he did. He told me that I needed to tuck my tailbone in, forcing my core to be balanced, bend my knees and allow my shoulders to be relaxed. Then he said that I need to think of the rake as an extension of myself and not something that I have to use, that way, it would move naturally with my body. I cried, saying there was no way I could do this. I got upset, I quit talking. But, naturally, I did what he said. I almost always do, because he is almost always right. And he was. Suddenly, it became easier, my upperback and shoulders quit hurting, and the rocks went into the bucket faster. I was amazed.
No, astonished is the correct word. So, then, I got to thinking, what other things in my life are unnecessarily hard just because I am holding my body wrong? I spent the next several days of raking contemplating this. I began to realize that the way I was holding my body was what was causing my tension in virtually every part of my body, my jaw included. I did a reality check, my core was weak, I was compensating by holding my body incorrectly, causing so much pain elsewhere. So, I started to try to hold my body differently, and things started to change, things hurt less. I realize I still need to work on strengthening my core, but already things are feeling better.
Then, I thought even more, what if these same kinds of things are thought patterns too. What if I am holding on to some sort of thought pattern that is holding me back? Of course there was. I have read that often certain mindsets prevent you from moving forward in your life, so I started to change my thinking. Not an easy task, but, I started small, like thinking about 3 things I am grateful on a daily basis. That is one that is plastered all over Facebook and other social media. And most people probably just skip past those, but what if you took it seriously? What if you really tried it? I did, and things changed, some of my negative thoughts that I never even realized were there started to fade away. More positive thoughts took their place. And, I started to believe that my goals were attainable. I started to believe that we would be living on our property sooner rather than later. I started to believe that I could actually be a successful writer. I started to believe that I could do well as a reading therapist.
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