Make the most of every situation

I was recently taking a walk (when the heavy rain had ceased for a short time) and just ahead of me was a little boy walking with his mother. He held her hand and happily walked beside her until he spotted a puddle.

It was quite a substantial puddle, given the amount of rain we have had recently. The little boy shrugged off his mother’s hand and stepped into the puddle. He stomped his feet quickly before he was told to step out of it.  It was such a fun and spontaneous thing to do, and it put a smile on my face.

His mother reacted so calmly. She smiled and although she asked him to step out of the puddle, she just held out her hand to him as they continued to walk.

It was a lovely reminder that even though the conditions may not be perfect, it is okay to make the most of the situation.

The same applies to meditation – we don’t need everything to be in perfect order to be able to meditate. We just need to adapt to our environment.

I’ll always remember my first meditation teacher telling our group each time we started, ‘just let any noises you hear become part of your meditation. Pay them no attention and just focus on yourself’. The minute he said this, the noisiest sound of the floor cleaning machine in the adjoining mall started up.

With my eyes closed, I smiled to myself and let the noisy machine blend into the background while I did my meditation.
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Takeaway tip: Don’t wait for what you think is the perfect environment to meditate. Go with what you’ve got – whether it is for 5 minutes or 30 minutes. After all, the practice of meditation needs to fit into your lifestyle.