How Much is One Human Life Worth?

Sitting in the middle of the year 2020, I am realizing that so much of the conflict and struggle surrounding me and across the world, but most specifically in the United States, revolves around the value of human life. Whether it’s the Covid-19 Pandemic with over 200k human lives lost, or the Black Lives Matter protests over violence against colored people, there is a tremendous disparity between what a human life is worth to different people. So I ask you;

What is One Human Live Worth? Stop reading and really ask yourself that question.

What factors into your decision? There is different criteria for everyone and it seems to really affect how we treat each other.

Does the color of their skin change that value?
Does their age affect that value? Unborn? Newborn? Middle Aged? Senior Citizen?
Does their contribution (or “lack” thereof) make them worth more or less?
Does their political affiliation make them expendable?

There are lives being lost due to the Coronavirus, but there are many people who are unwilling to wear a mask to help slow the transmission of this illness. Who has to die, or how many have to die before it is worth it to wear a mask? Would you change your stance if you had a loved one at risk? Even if you don’t believe it helps, if there were the slightest chance that it did, wouldn’t it be worth it? Similarly, spending time in gatherings of people without social distancing, is it worth it to get a beer with friends tonight and would your stance change if you knew that someone may die from that event?

But it’s not just illness that’s killing people. There was a recent protest in Wisconsin and a teenager, armed with an assault rifle, decided to fire on looters. He killed 2 people and permanently disfigured a third. These 2 lives lost and one life dramatically shattered was done simply for the protection of property. How much were those lives worth? What was the dollar value of the damage that he prevented? What was the dollar value of the goods that may have been stolen? Why was it HIS job to make that decision and why is he now defended for his decision to kill people of property (which he didn’t even own) and what are the consequences of that action?

In July, George Floyd was killed by police while he was helpless on the ground. He was black and had a criminal record, but he hadn’t done anything that put a life in danger, yet he was slowly smothered for no apparent good reason. Was he worth less because he was black? Was he worth less because he had a criminal record?

These examples are a drop in the bucket, you can look at every life lost this year and wonder if they had earned it, if something about their situation or condition made them expendable. Unfortunately the trend is to politicize each death and remove the honest observation of that person and their value. If it were your family member, your loved one who was pinned to the ground and held there for 8 minutes until they perished, would you be more understanding for those crying out? If it were your child who was mistakenly looting and killed by a vigilante, would you say “well, they deserved it for stealing” or would you cry out that a teenager with an assault rifle shouldn’t be put in the position to make that decision? If your parents were infected with the Coronavirus because you refused to social distance or wear a mask, would you just say “well at least they were old” or would you be distraught that they died by something that was preventable.

The differences between each of us is not a curse, it’s a blessing. Every human life is valuable, born or unborn. We’re being manipulated by media and political sources who want you to think that some lives are worth losing if it supports their cause. My request is that you stop every time you hear that someone died and ask yourself, was their death “worth it” and consider what that worth was. I’m not saying you need to rage over each death. You don’t need to protest in the streets or riot because someone died, but at least consider why someone else may be doing so. Use your imagination and sense of empathy to try and put yourself in their shoes, the shoes of their loved ones and consider that while All Lives Matter is true, some lives are seeming to Matter less and those fighting are trying to make that be heard.

Find your Why

I’m a hater of the “productivity” trend and this constant feed of how to be more efficient or do more stuff. I think humans are pretty great at doing stuff already and the need to eke out a bit more performance is just a symptom of a collapse of humanity in our lives. I don’t wish to push anyone to be more efficient at what they do. If you feel you’re too busy, step back and do less… say no. I say all of that to throw my version of a “productivity hack” into the ring. That sounds backwards, so I’ll explain.

Everyone who does something awesome does so with a purpose. It isn’t on their to-do list as a line item. They don’t need to be reminded of what they’re working on. They don’t need to start the day with 20 minutes of yoga, 20 minutes of journaling and a cup of bulletproof coffee to do it. The awesome things have a “Why” driving them. Maybe it’s cure world hunger, maybe it’s to bring peace to humanity. Unfortunately, it might also just be that they love money. The big part is the WHY. If you have a capital letter why in your list of motivations, you’ll be more likely to push onward. I think most people can come up with a why; they have bills to pay, mouths to feed, it’s what they were hired to do or its what is expected of them. But that is a lower case why. That’s the type of why that lets you live a life of complacent drudgery which will likely make most people bitter, resentful or frustrated periodically, if not constantly. You don’t see people getting awards for living a life in pursuit of those “whys.”

A lower-case “why” is something we all deal with, it is the passionless reason that we do things each day. I eat food… why? because my body needs energy. If I’m not a food critic then my eating is a lower-case why. If I’m a food critic and I travel around eating at the best restaurants then it might be a Why instead. If I work in a cubicle updating a spreadsheet 5 days a week then my work is probably still a lower-case “why” to pay the bills. I think we all need to do some lower-case work in our lives, you can’t be passionate about everything you do, but maybe if you were a capital letter “why” then you might be less interested in updating 120 rows more today than yesterday. You might be more interested in finding a way for those rows to fill themselves, or to eliminate the need for rows. Maybe your lower-case “why” is the fuel to create an upper-case “why.”

Now, think of those folks that inspire you. Watching them might give you a Why. Seeing their success might be a little oomph in your capitalization. I’ll bet if they make your “why” into a “Why” then THEY are living with a “WHY” or maybe even a “WHY!” The distinction I’m making might be a bit too subtle so I’ll ease up on that rhetoric. My point is that we each have a very basic, unexciting reason for some things. This lack of enthusiasm is why we want to be more productive… we hope to be done faster so we can move on, or maybe we’re just gamifying our boring work. The people getting awards, the people getting recognition have decided that something needs to be done and they have a more exciting reason to do it. The guy that founded the company you work at probably had a bigger vision so he was more excited. As you trickle down through the ranks, the excitement for that original founder’s vision has become more diluted. That found probably gladly works more than 40 hours a week trying to make his vision happen, but at some point, someone in his employment isn’t seeing the bigger vision or isn’t included in it and their 40 hours is burning up their soul.

If you want to be more productive, have a more compelling reason to do what you do or change the things you’re doing. If you feel run down in your current job, it’s because your reason for doing it isn’t great enough, it’s because your “why” is just a maintaining your life type of “why.” This works with procrastination and with dreams. When you’re excited to do a thing, you don’t need to find a good reason to start, you actively WANT to work on it. If you find that you can’t get excited about your work it might not be that you need to meditate more or take anti-depressants, it might be that you need to work past your fears and take steps towards following a dream.

The problem with the “morning routine”

The morning routine is one of the great topics that a productivity blogger loves to post about. We want to see what other people do, we want to hear a simple, step by step to become the next big thing. It’s been a thing for a good long while now, Ben Franklin said “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” That might be not the first case, but it is certainly the most notable.

While there is sure to be some science in there regarding our circadian rhythms, or some psychology about routine, there is also a lot of subjective data points. The biggest sticking point, of course, is that some people aren’t morning people.

I’ll regularly catch myself frustrated with these recommendations as the bloggers posting them seem to indicate there is one only one way, and this is it. I get it, to get people paying attention you have to make some absolute claims. Nobody wants to read “what if you do this” type posts as they are little more than thought exercises. But there is some benefit to letting people figure this stuff out on their own.

I’ll throw my hat into the ring. I tend to go to bed around 10, but spend at least an hour reading before I roll over to sleep. I wake with the sun, so in the summer I’m often up before 6 and in the winter I’m sleeping past 7. I don’t punch a clock, so if I get to work at 8 or i get to work at 9:30 I’m fine. I’ll admit I’m lucky in that regard. The question is how do I spend my mornings? I agree with the idea of routines, removing micro decisions. For breakfast I do “butter coffee” which keeps me from being tired or getting caffeine jitters easily until 12-1 pm. I take care of the pets… but at present, thats the extent of my routine. I would like to write more, but some days I don’t know if that’s what I want to be when I grow up. I’d like to design more, working out solutions to problems in my workshop, or with my house. I also play games, video games. It’s been a while since I mindfully sat down to meditate, or do yoga. Both things I know I should do. I’m horrible about stopping my distractions to do my good things.

So there you have it, worst productivity guide ever. I like to think I’m not abnormal in this regard, but I know nobody aspires to my “mess around until I have to be busy” routine. But there is a lesson to learn in it. Some days I’m happy for this luxury. Some days I’m happy to have the option and freedom to not be 100% productive. Some days I’m able to catch myself and point out that whether I’ve just launched a million dollar idea or I just spent the last 15 minutes on the floor petting and loving on my dog, happiness is there. I don’t have to be rich or uber productive to be happy. But there are other days…

Other days, I am disappointed with how much time I spent browsing Reddit and Imgur. Other days I go to bed with little filling my mind of what I did that day and I’m frustrated that my biggest memory of the day is waking up. Other days I wish I was actively improving the world. Other days I wish I had just done these things in the morning to be more productive or to accomplish things.

I don’t like the other days where I’m disatisfied with my life. (Why would I?) But the beat of the world has good and bad days. I try to look at the “bad days” with an eye to what made them bad, or what made the “good days” good. I don’lt think my lazy good days are sustainable… at some point I’m bored by that standardness and I want to do more with myself. The lessons I take from both days are these, and they feed to my original comment about “best morning routines.” I feel the best on days where I feel like I did accomplish something. I feel pretty awesome right now for actually changing browser tabs and creating. I feel great that the past 2 days were spent in my workshop working on a loft bed for my son. I feel great that I have a workshop in a yard big enough for my dogs to have zoomies with minimal restriction.

For a morning routine, I say this.

Sleep as much as you comfortably can, try to live without an alarm clock if you can.

Be mindful when you can, if you have time to meditate, do that, othewise just try to be present as you do your standard tasks. Appreciate the smell of your coffee or the taste of your yogurt.

Exercise or stretch as your body allows. I go bouldering 2-3 times a week and go on 2-3 mile walks 3-4 times a week. These happen later in my day. If I can, yoga or weight lifting feel best in the morning.

Journal or drop notes as you feel inclined. I think a daily journal is idea, but if you just do it a couple of times a week it still feels good to just think about your life. Try to be thankful for your good stuff.

Plan what you can, when you can, the way you can. I find that just starting my day in an “organized” fashion sets me in the right state of mind for the rest of my day. I don’t plot every event, but I try to allow that I want to accomplish certain things. For me, it feels better to think about what I want to do tomorrow as I’m lying in bed. Often my sleep time gives me ideas.
Eat healthfully and mindfully. This one, I do encourage eating as healthy as you can… but that means different things to different people. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t burn calories so readily, so I’m “intermittent fasting” to get my metabolism doing it’s thing. I like bacon and eggs. My suggestion for “healthy food” is as little processing as possible. Eat as close to raw as possible, or at least try to eat things that didn’t have to go through too many processes to make them last longer. If the thing you ate was alive a week ago then you’re in great shape.

For me, my goal is shaping up to performing some routines in the morning every morning just so I don’t have to think “what will I do today” but keep them loose enough that I’m still able to move slowly. I won’t be getting up earlier (though I might try going to bed later.) I’ll aspire to define 3 things that will make me feel like my day was a good one each day. (I like 3, it’s a simple enough number that I can create a list without getting caught in the details.) I’ll push to spend at least 15 minutes each day jotting down thoughts, digitally or analog, to at least “groom” my mind for more organized things later.

We each have our own goals, we each want to accomplish our dreams, we each feel we’re unique and special. If this is the case, why spend that time trying to live other people’s life? Set yourself up for success by loving yourself first, then start your day (at whatever time) enjoying being yourself. Pursue your happiness first, see if you can let that bubble out into making others happy second, and finally if you make some money then that’s just icing on the cake.

Habits are the elimination of micro-decisions, and the key to progress

I stepped away from the keyboard for a bit and the result was a decline in so many aspects of my life, largely morale and a sense of “movement.” I’ve long been a believer in the “do something for 30 days to form a habit” mentality, it’s proven so true, unfortunately, to undo a habit doesn’t take nearly as long. I would argue that it can come as quickly as your decision to NOT do it for a day or a week. This is what happened to my writing.

For several months I had managed to incorporate a pattern of waking up, doing little else before I would write in some form; either in my handwritten journal, my Evernote notebook or here on my blog. I would typically also match this with morning meditation or yoga or weightlifting. About 6 months ago I got a puppy and all of a sudden I had to choose to deal with his morning routine to the detriment of my own, with that change in patterns I ~~slowly~~ quickly fell out of my habit.

As I spend my days pondering how much better I felt when I was doing that, I finally link “habit” and “micro-decision” as they really should be. In creating a habit, I remove one more micro-decision from my daily routine. I can choose to wake up and do this thing (writing) or I can wake up and browse Reddit. I can take the time to formulate my thoughts for the day or I can just consume and be distracted. (That seems like another post, consumption vs creation, maybe I’ll return to it later.)

For years I abhorred the idea of routine or daily habits, that seemed like it was all about losing spontaneity or flexibility in my life and while that has some ring of truth to me still, it isn’t as extreme as I’ve always thought. The trick is to keep those habits and let them coexist with spontaneity. In the case of my writing/morning routine vs my puppy, the answer was likely to start my morning a little earlier or just allow my day to start a little later as I get through my routines. I am realizing more as I become more mindful or self-aware, that habits are really just me removing choices to make and just doing things that should be done. They’re less about “being better” and more about “being me.” When I’m not letting myself have positive habits then I’m just sitting in stasis, or possibly slipping back to a less self-reliant or empowered version of myself.

“Micro-decisions” is a relatively new term (at least to me) and one that’s tossed around by the likes of Tim Ferris and other productivity gurus but I’ve never heard someone say it directly next to “habit”. I’m not saying it hasn’t been said, I just didn’t hear it. I first started seeing it in conjunction with intermittent fasting or probably more specifically “bulletproof coffee.” The usage was that by always consuming the same breakfast, or by only having one meal a day, you have a little bit less to think about and it gives you back some mental stamina or removes some of the stress that builds up from a day of decision making. While I’m not spending my day making high impact decisions for the world around me, I do like that I can get up, do this coffee routine and be on my way. My mornings are on auto-pilot when it comes to nutrition. I would never have called either “BP Coffee” or intermittent fasting a habit but I would acknowledge that they removed one or several small decisions from what I do before work.

I say all that, to say that eliminating a micro-decision is effectively the same as creating a habit. Rather than get up and think “should I work out today” I just say “I’m up, time to work out.” The same goes for my other tasks, “I’ve made my coffee, fed the dogs and let the chickens out, time to write” and that’s just how the day goes from there. No time to wonder what I’ll write about, or if I’ll write, I just start doing it. If it feels like something to share with the world then I’ll go to the blog, if it’s feeling more transactional or daily log then I’ll probably write it by hand and if it’s something between the two (eg. future blog post ideas) then I’ll jump into Evernote. Once I’m done with writing on to the next “this is just what I do” step in the day. It sounds easy because, once you make the choice to do it, it is easy.

Should YOU do it? Possibly? I often say to myself “When it matters, I’ll prioritize making it happen.” The question is when will it matter… that all depends on the person, how happy they are with their current daily habits (Reddit surfing is a habit) and how much they want to default into a new behavior. You just have to make that real decision for a little while (30 days? probably not necessary) and accept that it’s the new normal. I’ll be tinkering with my ideas of “new normal”here in the coming days weeks and months to see where it goes. Let me know if you’re doing it as well.

Awareness – The catalyst for change & mindfulness

I spent some time yesterday thinking about awareness and what it brings. There are different places that awareness appears in our lives and how it affects us. I wrote before, but have considered even deeper how we are the most critical of the things in others that we are critical of in ourselves. It takes awareness that you’re being critical to be able to shine the spotlight on why it exists and let you become mindful of it. I love the idea of mindfulness but it can’t exist without awareness. Similarly, awareness is a powerful piece of information that has tremendous potential but if you never become mindful of the things you’re aware of then it may be little more than a daydream. The key to change in yourself and the world is to become aware, then become mindful of that awareness. There is a third component here, I’m only just becoming aware of the connection between these two so I’ll have to ponder more what that component of change or action is… allowing that maybe it’s just Will.

Yesterday, when pondering awareness, it was under the guise that “change can be invisible” and that we sometimes shift without really noticing. The anecdote that sparked it was as recent as the past few days, and here it is:

Over the weekend, my family participated in preparing and staffing a float for our local beekeeper’s association to present at the parade opening the county fair. My son, creative and hilarious, wanted me to be a flower so he could be dressed as a bee and smack me with a honey wand to pollinate me. He was excited about this, but we didn’t find a way to make that costume happen. However, one of the beekeepers had a box full of various costume parts and on Saturday pulled out a bee costume with a cap. This didn’t and doesn’t seem that odd to me and when he handed it to me as an option, I put it on and really didn’t think any more of it. I was with my family, we were having fun, the spirit of the event supported the idea of me in a bee costume. Well since then, as the pictures my wife shared with the world surfaced, family and friends (even one of the beekeepers) commented, asking “how she made me do it” or “they’re happy to see a man confident in his masculinity” and for some reason I was completely unaware there was anything remarkable about my costume wearing. I still find it unremarkable, but see this as a mindfulness and self-awareness shift in behavior.

In the last year, as I’ve become much more mindful of myself, others and myself-and-others. This is to say, I’m increasingly aware that the way I feel and react is all within myself, regardless of other’s opinions about me. When it came time to wear a costume, I was thinking first of my son who wanted me to wear a costume. Alternatively, as my mindfulness about myself has shifted, I realize that the way others see me is less important than the way I see myself. This all feels like common sense, or maybe it’s age talking, but it was a fresh perspective for me. I have changed, to some degree, in the last year (and every year really) because that’s just what happens, we get new information, we get different priorities and we change.

So, bringing this back to awareness, my thoughts yesterday were about change but I woke up this morning thinking about awareness and how that drives change and how that empowers us to make decisions or choices. Every thing you become aware of has the potential to be a thing you can make a choice about. If you’re aware of your critical behavior, you can change it. If you’re aware of how eating junk food makes you feel, you can change it. Awareness by itself is already a great thing, it lets you speak out on injustice, it lets you react to others feelings and needs. Mindfulness by itself, also amazing… and non-existent if you’re not aware in the first place. These two together are what leave you poised for change so the next step is translating it to action

Small Changes

A few months ago I had established myself into a routine of daily, if not every other day sitting down and writing for around half an hour. One day I got a puppy… and everything shifted. This small (arguably large I supposed) shift forced me to spend my morning routine within reach of the puppy in case it misbehaved. I could no longer seclude myself in the basement for daily yoga, I had a hard time being undisturbed for a full half hour and the routines I had been crafting so carefully were out the window… literally overnight.

Well now some time has passed, puppy has started to behave more like a family dog, and I’m still not back in that routine. As I look back at how I got started, it seems so hard to do now, so I’m looking at it strategically. The truth is that I didn’t just start writing and doing yoga every day. The truth is that I had been doing short yoga periodically, sometimes meditating and being thoughtful. Then I was making myself write at least once a week for as long as I could. It took baby steps with the biggest change being my desire. I would feel bad when I didn’t do things… I would think about when I could. It all started with the DESIRE to change and then one day I just pushed a little harder. That’s the case right now. I have a timer next to me that says I WILL type for at least 20 minutes. Even if this goes nowhere then I’ll have done this writing and will have started the process.

I look at this across everything I want to be different in my life, no and in the past. Small changes are still changes, the only place shame and pride exist are in my own mind, so why not just do it. YOU might be judging me, but I don’t know that and once I do know, it again is up to me to care about your opinion. The only thing holding me back is my own story, which is a topic for a future post I’m sure!

Years ago I was interested in new age things which led me to look into things that are pseudo-science and widely practiced. On the edge of that was handwriting analysis. It was suggested that someone skilled in this analysis could tell many things about me… and I don’t refute that at all. That being said, I also tried, years ago, to change my handwriting because I thought it was too sloppy. When I look at those two pieces of reality, I’ve always wondered… if I change my handwriting, does that change my personality? At some level, I believe so. At some level, I feel that by becoming more aware of myself, it pushes me to change another part of myself. Changing my handwriting meant I was becoming slower and more deliberate in how I communicated, this change in speed and intent made me more mindful but also more structured and more organized. I still see it when I journal by hand, some days I feel very “put together” and my handwriting is smaller and tighter. Other days I feel rushed and just want to get thoughts down or get the journaling over with and my handwriting becomes wild and erratic.

While I’m not saying that writing differently will change who I am fundamentally, taking the time to affect a certain change has a broader effect across my outlook however temporarily. I liken it to the chaos theory which most will have heard of in Jurassic Park. When a butterfly flaps its wings on one side of the world, it could be a tsunami on the opposite side. Small changes, however chaotic, start a chain of events that have a larger impact. You might have also seen the less critically acclaimed “Butterfly Effect” which revolves entirely around how one small change in your life may affect many unexpected things.

I go into this theoretical physics tangent to just point out that change is always change, however small. If you want to see a difference in your life then it’s important to start, anywhere, in any way possible. Me writing this today will ripple, it might mean I write again tomorrow, it might just mean I pull out my journal and do some handwritten journaling again. By at least starting this, and more importantly by me putting this out into the world, I am back on a path of change… hopefully with the intent in which it is being written. We’ll see, but change is CHANGE.

Craft your own rituals

I keep seeing posts giving me a glimpse into the morning/evening/breakfast/dinner routines of the Internet cognoscenti with a promise that if I adopt the same, my life will expand dramatically. I have now also seen a few posts saying to ignore those other posts because we’re all different. I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of a “Do these 10 things” or “Buy this 7 items” type lists as the list length is arbitrary and the items are typically things I already do, or can’t do, or won’t do. I’m here to say that the things you do are your own to choose, but the real value is to create your own rituals or routines. This seems like a no-brainer, but I’ll expand.

I grew up in a non-religious household with periodic trips to church to stay good with God, I don’t remember a whole lot of the experience and don’t feel it shaped me too much. When I was dating my now-wife I attended Catholic Mass with her a few times and realized how much different it truly was from my churchgoing experience. There was a flow to the process, something I would see at the time as potentially comforting to those in attendance. You might be paying attention to the actual sermon, you might not, but you knew when it was time to stand, to kneel, to sing, to pray. The entirety of the Mass was its own ritual which eased the minds of the congregation. I wasn’t for me, but I could see there was a benefit.

Flash forward to this past month in my life. I was finding a flow with a morning ritual that worked for me and which helped bring peace into my life, then one day, we got a puppy. While this new addition to the family has been surprisingly drama-free, it has brought with it a change in my morning. Previously I had a pattern of getting up, tending to our other critters (chickens & older dog), making coffee, doing yoga, journaling, and blogging. Now, I had a puppy which sort of fit in there, but I had to be vigilant that I didn’t allow him to pee in the house, or chew things up… and he always needed to be near me. For the past few weeks, I always get my coffee, but yoga is intermittent, journaling and blogging is non-existent. My ritual was broken and my mental state has been sliding all the while. I feel guilty for not doing these things which were a priority in my life. I can now see how a devout Catholic could feel distraught if they miss their weekly mass, that departure of habitual comfort is rough.

In religion and in the podcast/blog world, ritual gives us comfort without the necessity of thought. Now, this can quickly fly in the face of my mantra, Be Mindful in All Things, but it doesn’t have to. I can’t speak for religious ritual, but I can talk all day about my daily habits and those of the productivity masters across the web. Ritual, on its own, gives you one (or more) less decision to make on any given day. For me, I’ve started a routine of a “Bulletproof” Coffee in the morning and then an intermittent fast until early afternoon. I no longer spend time deciding on breakfast and my morning is a tiny bit simpler. When I was doing all of the things mentioned in my previous paragraph I felt like I was taking action in my life without trying to decide what to do. Journaling is just automatic word writing, blogging does take more thought… so it was the toughest decision in my morning routine. Morning (or any time) routines are just an antidote to Decision Fatigue.

So there, that’s my point in all of this. Oddly, in this streamlined world, we have MORE decisions to make on any given day than we used to. I have more choices, more opportunities than my parents did at my age and it adds up to be a bit more stress as I try to decide if I’m doing the right thing. Creating a ritual that you follow, or a routine that happens daily, you have a little less stress and hopefully a little easier day. But wait, “What about Mindfulness,” you say? Well, by now you know that Mindfulness is really about being present in the moment. If you have a routine or ritual you’re following, just be present in that process. I grind my coffee beans in the morning, so I’m considering that process while I do it. I take the time to smell the coffee as it brews, I am deliberate in my measurements for butter, coconut oil, protein powder, whatever. While it’s a thing I do every day, automatically, I’m still present every time I do it.

When you’re ready to simplify your morning, your lunch, your midday break, see if you can create an automatic behavior (what I keep calling ritual) that you can be mindful while doing, but that you don’t have to think about before you do it. I’m sure I’ll come up with a 10 things list at some point, but right now I encourage you to make your own 10 (or 7 or 4) item list of morning behaviors and commit to repeating them daily. With these things lumped into a routine, you’re slightly more free to explore other more pressing decisions!

Be Considerate

I happened to utter that phrase this morning. I was thinking about where to place things and said that I needed to “be considerate” of the things that were already there and where they would go, specifically these were tools that had a purpose for their positioning. As I said it, those two words struck me as a parental phrase offered when trying to teach our kids to be decent human beings. Of course, I was talking about considering the environment, a totally different use of the words, but it still struck me. To “be considerate” is a very mindful thing to do.

To consider something is to think about it, to weigh the outcome. “Consider the consequences” when you are about to make some rash decision. This is very focused on you and the outcome of your actions. “Consider” in this case is to think about and weigh the results of an action. In the case of this adage, mindfulness is necessary to stop and think before you act. If you can “consider the consequences” every time you make a decision then you’ll be living mindfully with regards to yourself and how the choices you make will affect your immediate or even long-term future.

Being considerate of others, that’s still considering an outcome, but in this case, it’s more about walking a mile in their shoes. If you can be considerate of someone else, you can awaken your own empathy and start hopefully save someone else from their negative emotions. By being considerate of someone’s feelings, you’re stopping before being mean. By being considerate of someone else’s actions, you’re allowing that there might be some decision or purpose behind what they’ve done. Again, these are mindful acts. Empathy is one of the most mindful traits you can really embrace and luckily one begets the other. The more you consider how someone else will react to your actions, you give yourself a reason to continue to do that for other people. Especially when you see that your consideration has a positive effect. When you’re considering why someone did something, you can head down the rabbit hole of how it affects YOU or you can see that maybe there’s another side to the story that is completely based on them. By letting THEM have their own reasons, and accepting them at face value, you can save yourself from stress and anger.

There are so many things to consider about consideration. To my original thought, considering where you place thing is an art form? a science? a practice when it comes to interior design. The Chinese concept of Feng Shui is all about considering where things are placed for optimal flow of chi in your house. In my example, where I place a drill press may get in the way of placing boards when I want to use my miter saw. There is a flow, be it something as ephemeral as Chi or as literal as a board, and consideration is again a mindfulness when planning and when doing.

The big consideration, one that I’ve spent much more time considering in my 40s than in any previous decade, Death. Considering that you, your loved ones, your enemies all face that inevitability can sometimes bring consideration for how you treat them now, and how you continue to treat them. Either by considering that someday you may lose them or one day you’ll be gone, either is a heavy weight to let sit. I know it’s a hard one to think about but I’ve found tremendous strength in remembering that ultimate end. Some folks will do anything to avoid thinking about it, leading to different mindless pursuits as a result. By knowing that it’s always out there can hopefully give you some peace instead.

I’m adding some footnotes, a new thing for me, as I thought of examples through my writing and wanted to give some bonus reading.

What is Feng Shui? – knowfengshui.com
Bhutan’s Dark Secret to Happiness – bbc.com

Write your own narrative

For the past couple of weeks, my morning routine has been completely upended by the addition of a young puppy in the house. Where I was starting to flow with getting up, making my coffee, doing my yoga then spending some time reading or writing, I am now up and generally holding or distracting the puppy with no real ability to leave him unattended. Over this time I’ve grown frustrated and depressed that my months of building up a habit are thrown out the window. I’ll admit, no matter how mindful I was, the feeling that I was helpless was settling in. But I’ve reached my limit, I’m spending less time doing and more time consuming and I can’t mentally handle it anymore.

We start each day with a chance to set our mood or define our actions, we might let the previous night’s sleep, the first thing we see, the seventh thing we hear or the events around us set our mood. In my case, I’m letting the previous day’s inactivity rule me. It’s one thing to be affected by these stimuli, it’s another entirely to create a narrative and base your day on it. You might wake up tired and just presume everything sucks, repeating that mantra that “I didn’t sleep very well.” Or you might have some guy cut you off in traffic and without realizing it, subconsciously end up with a “People are jerks” story echoing in your mind. Most of us have some circumstance that defines how we feel or act or react for a while after it happens and usually, we don’t even notice. Luckily, this is where Mindfulness can play a part.

By creating a habit of evaluating your current mood, seeing if you like that mood, and trying to understand why you’re “in” that mood, then you can sometimes change it.

In almost every case you can make a change in your actions, your environment or your mindset. I can place my puppy in a kennel to let him rest. I can put him on the chair behind me (where he is now) and let him sleep while I type. In all of the above cases, you MUST be prepared to write a new mantra and follow that narrative. “I’m not helpless.” “I am empowered to make choices in my day.” “I’m able to choose a positive emotion in response to negative actions or undesirable outcomes.” Repeat them as needed, or just assert the phrase once and go on about your day.

You might not be blessed with the ability to just utter a phrase and change your mood, that is a gift available only to a blessed few, of which I’m NOT one. If that’s the case, you start with the phrase as something mindful, but then follow up with action. Woke up tired? Start DOING something, anything! That motion, that progress will awaken your mind and eventually pull you out of that funk. You might have to be very active, go for a walk, do some exercise, get your blood and oxygen flowing. I recommend yoga over meditation in this case. I recommend walking or standing activities over sitting. Be busy with things so you can’t ruminate on your sleepiness. And of course, caffeine.

On the flip side, if you’re angry or frustrated or dwelling on someone else’s bad behavior or previous days bad things then you should spend your time clearing out that negativity. Gratitude is a great thing to realize here, think on what you appreciate. Here is where meditation becomes useful. Count your breaths, be aware of your inhalation or exhalation or the space between those. Let your mind empty or fill it up with positivity. If you still need to be active for this, use that time to journal and let the frustration go. I find that by writing things out on paper I can process it better and usually I feel better for having written it. When I’m really good, I can do a summary or conclusive paragraph that lets me see my writing with more perspective.

I will also suggest that you do actually write it down, put it into reality somehow and then move along. The most valuable thing about writing your own narrative is that you can find a positive perspective, you just have to give yourself time to release any emotions that were making you feel stuck.

Mindfullish Days – A Driving Challenge

Being mindful every day can be a hard habit to start, and trying to integrate it into everything can seem impossible. The best way to find the peace of mindfulness is to just do it a little bit at a time. Each day, find something which you normally do but you usually do mindlessly, with distractions even. Mindfullish Days will be a simple post giving you something to pursue mindfully.

I’ve recently been trying to find longer things to do in my mindfulness but the longer the task, the harder it is to STAY mindful. My favorite is to just turn off the radio while I’m at driving. I’ll quickly add that while I’m sitting here writing this I’m doing so with headphones on and music drowning out the background. I like music, it’s great for getting me focused or for helping me shift my mood. Obviously, my 30-minute drive to work in the morning is a great time to get my jam on, and going to a 9 to 5 (adjust with your hours of choice) is a perfect time to try and get your mood adjusted. If I can turn off the music and just be present in the drive then I find I notice my surroundings a bit better and more importantly, I’m less affected by other drivers around me.

I find that having music playing while driving drops me into a path, a stream, a groove. I obviously have a destination when driving, but music gives me some soundtrack with a pace and an attitude while moving through time. Even listening to “happy” music, I will often be moving with enough purpose that anyone getting in front of me is a jerk and anyone creeping up behind me is a madman. Everyone outside is working their level best to affect MY groove and I can escalate into frustration. While that level of frustration is a great topic for finding a mindfullish reaction, today we’re talking about making the drive itself into a mindful experience.

My challenge to you for the day is to turn off the radio, eject the CD, pause the audiobook and just drive. Pay attention to the cars in front you, be at peace with whatever pace the traffic is moving at, and just let yourself move through the city to your destination. You’ll find your mind wandering and that’s ok, as long as you’re still focusing on the drive. You might still get angry, but I’ve found I’m less likely to be emotionally connected to the drive if I’m doing so in relative silence.

You may find yourself getting bored, but that’s a good feeling too, just notice it and acknowledge it and then keep your eyes on the road. Try counting red cars or noticing when those “crazy drivers” pass you, only to be waiting at the next light. You’ll likely find yourself spotting behaviors that normally irritate you, try to recognize them and see if you’re still irritated or whatever emotion you normally feel. If you find yourself getting emotional, for better or worse, try taking a big breath and then audibly exhaling a few times. You don’t have to put on your happy music or peaceful music every time, you can often break free with a breath break.

If you’re really ambitious, try this for both your to and from trips. I find I’m usually in a much different mood on the way home than I was on the way in, I’m usually less stressed or more excited to see my loved ones. When your mind wanders on the way home it often summons your happy, smiley thoughts so notice those as well. Again, notice your pace, notice how you’re feeling about other drivers and just flow again. You don’t have to do this again tomorrow (unless you want to), so just accept this moment right now and do your best to take a little break away from distraction.