Day 44

Day 44: Real Time
Day 8: 21 Day Complaint Free Journey


“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are.


I guess my surfing lessons are going well. Things are calm and mellow in my life right now, although there are still challenges clamoring for my formerly crisis-induced rants.

Within 30 days I will be rid of the job that has been a thorn in my side for the past six months or so. My personal life is quiet, some might say boring. But for me right now, boring is a welcome respite from the chaos of the recent past.

To go into all of that with you would soon become complaint-ridden and we don’t want that, now, do we?

Before I took this challenge to become complaint-free, I had begun the attempt to be more mindful of the present moment. What I’m learning is that the two efforts have much in common.

“Of course, with continued practice and the right kind of gentle effort, calmness and mindfulness and equanimity develop and deepen on their own, out of your commitment to dwell in stillness and to observe without reacting and without judging.” P. 22-23, Wherever You Go There You Are.

See what I mean? If we can observe without judging, wouldn’t our critical, complaining eye be blinded? Then we will simply see the world as it exists in front of us, rather than having to create our own false reality. A reality that demands rearranging through criticism.

Surf's up! Day 8 dawns.