Espresso Meditations
“I’ve taken up meditation. I like to have an espresso first to make it more challenging.”
Betsy Salkind
I laughed out loud when I read the quote above. It’s even funnier if you have really tried meditating and know how difficult it is. It’s often hard to calm yourself and quiet your thoughts enough to really do it. Most of us in our mach-speed, multi-tasking, espresso-drinking world, don’t have much experience with meditating, but I think we need it more than ever. If you’re new at it, you’ll discover how difficult it is to meditate on one idea for more than a few minutes. In fact, in the beginning of learning to meditate, one minute is a challenge. When I started getting serious about meditating, I noticed that sometimes repeating a phrase or thought helped keep my mind from wandering. And often, I could meditate more easily while I was working out or walking or doing something that was keeping my body busy. Sometimes during my walk, I would repeat a phrase in time with my steps. “My life is good.” or a private prayer like, “Fill me with your power today,” or “Fill me with your joy today,” or Fill me with your peace today.” Those meditations or prayers start getting in your thoughts and in the quiet spaces of your day. Even when things are roaring out of control, those ideas have a way of re-centering us. So in your espresso world, find a phrase that has meaning to you. Something like: “This day is mine; I will rejoice. This day is mine; I will rejoice. This day is mine; I will rejoice.” See if your meditations make a difference. I think you’ll be surprised.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
