a change in your environment

I’m back down in Marco Island for New Year’s, which is where I unintentionally started my daily meditation and writing routine that turned into the Daily Notes. For the last year, on most days, I head downstairs to my living room, meditate for 20 minutes, “download” the Daily Note, and sit down to write for the day.

I don’t really think about whether or not I’m getting “better” at my meditation practice because I don’t believe it’s something you strive to get better at, but something you just do–the results are what they are. This morning was the first time since last year I sat down on a beach to meditate, and I was surprised at what I reflected on when I was done.

Meditating on the beach might sound peaceful, and it is, but it is also full of distractions.

The crashing of the waves, the birds squawking, people talking, hotel employees drilling holes for umbrellas, and more; each of these distractions presents an opportunity to pull you away from your meditation. I’m sure my Transcendental Meditation instructor would have told me not to go down to the beach because of all of the distractions (silence and absence of distractions is ideal for TM), but I find the environment too good to pass up–plus, I only get to experience it once a year, maybe twice.

Last year, I wrote a Daily Note about acknowledging the distractions and returning to my meditation. This year, while I heard all of the distractions, I didn’t have to consciously acknowledge them and pull my attention back to my meditation–I naturally allowed the distractions to be and pass by while staying in my meditation; the really cool thing was I didn’t even realize that I had done that until after I was done.

My almost daily meditation practice over the last year has strengthened, and my focus has gotten stronger, which could mean I have gotten “better,” if you’d like to call it that. But, I would have never known this without a change in my environment.

With my meditation being done each morning in a quiet house before anyone is awake or after everyone has left for the day, I don’t experience outside distractions like I did today. Without today’s session on the beach, I would not have been able to experience the progress I’ve quietly been making each day.

And I’m willing to bet my experience with a change in environment applies to something you’ve been working on over the last year. If you’ve been working on a practice, implementing new changes, or just focusing on a habit and have been doing it in the vacuum of the same environment, step outside of your normal environment and experience your growth in a new setting.

Sidenote: I wonder if I had the challenge of daily distractions over the last year, would I have made the same progress? Did the days of outside distraction-less meditation prepare me for today? There’s no way to know, and it also doesn’t matter, but it was a thought I had, and my conclusion is to continue to do my best, with what I have, where I’m at, and the rest will take care of itself.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC