The yoga studio where I practice has some sayings in frames on the walls and this one of them:
Begin Anywhere. It’s one of my favorites! I chuckle every time I see it. I laugh because it reminds me of how I have a tendency to overcomplicate a lot of things…and I’ve noticed that many of my clients do the same thing too.
When I am not centered and my monkey mind is racing, my inner critic can be so brutal.
“You haven’t been to yoga in 5 days. You used to go all the time. No wonder your arms are getting flabby. You used to be able to do side crow and front arm balance and now you can barely do regular crow. No wonder you’re single right now. You’re losing everything you worked for when you came all the time.”
And that’s just in a few seconds in my head. That voice was one of the reasons I used to drink and use drugs. And thank god I have tools and routines now to quiet that voice. It may never completely go away (believe me, I have tried to make it!), but now I can manage it better.
Which is why I love the Begin Anywhere sign. And so we begin again. Isn’t that a huge part of life? We start a new job, a new workout, a new relationship, and it’s good at the start, right? Things seem fun and fresh in the beginning.
This time I’m going to…
And then life happens.
There is a bump or three in the road.
You catch a nasty cold and you can’t breathe, much less make it to the gym.
Your new love has been preoccupied with a family drama and is not paying as much attention to you as they usually do.
You discover that your new boss who you thought was the perfect boss for you, may be getting transferred.
You promised yourself you’d work on becoming a better public speaker, but then you got slammed with new projects and taking care of family.
Life throws you a curve ball.
John Lennon said: Life is what happens when you’re sitting there making plans
(or something like that).
And after the dust has settled, and we are back into our routine, what do we usually do?
Beat ourselves up. It may be quick and even unconscious, but that little voice says: Well, you could’ve gone to the gym even though you were sick, or,
now you’re more out of shape than before you started the first time.
You never follow through. You’re not good with relationships, bosses, whatever.
But what if we could drop the story and the shame?
What if we could tell our critic: Thank you for sharing.
I am going to:
Begin Anywhere.
What if we could come from nothing?
Neutral.
Just begin again.
Isn’t that what masters do?
They go back to their instrument, or their dojo or their yoga mats.
And they begin again.
And so this is what I am working on with my clients and myself.
And I invite you, dear reader, to try it on as well.
What if you did some basic warm up exercises every day on your commute to work?
What if you started writing out your stories for your next talk?
What if you could do a practice Facebook Live and ask a supportive friend for feedback?
Write it on a Post-It Note.
Put it anywhere.
Whatever you’ve started, and you had to stop for whatever reason, as long as you are still committed to it, I invite you to just:
begin anywhere.
What if we practiced that more in school and in life?
Drop the Drama.
Can’t wait to hear how this went for you in your life!
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