It is possible to live peacefully and calmly even while experiencing the chaos and uncertainties life throws our way. Regardless of the hoop you may be expected to jump through, be it a broken car, expected work demands, forgotten appointments, traffic jams, all can be gotten through while maintaining inner peace and tranquility.
First check to see how you are processing the circumstance. Assess the situation gathering the facts, separate from your feelings about those facts. Knowing what your feelings are provides you with insight. The facts of the situation are simply what they are, it is your choice how you feel about those facts, and further how you will respond. A friend of mine uses the wood-chipper test of degree of crisis. Being chucked head first into a wood-chipper is life threatening and the absolute worst thing that could happen, other problems beyond that can be solved in due time, and may not in fact require us to panic.
Next make time for yourself, alone, quiet, without stimulation. In our over stimulated lives we have become somewhat desensitized to the stimulants in our life. Making quiet time an absolute necessity in your life allows your body, your sense organs, your mind to rest. You need that. Think of it as a small oasis where you can refresh yourself.
Check your breath. No really check yourself to see where you are breathing from. Breathing from your upper chest is fight or flight breathing. It means your body is responding as if you are being put head first into that wood chipper, or perhaps running from a tiger. Are those things the reality of this moment? No? Then slow your breathing down, move it to the large lungs down in your abdomen. Those lungs are larger, move more air, send more oxygen to the brain, and the brain needs its oxygen. Put your hand over your stomach, and watch your hand go in and out with your breath. It may take some practice and conscious effort to get those muscles working again, but this shows you how much you have been relying on those small lungs up in your chest and how much your body has been under stress.
Begin your day with even just a few minutes of calm. Sit quietly for a little while before you turn on the TV or before you read the newspaper or check your computer for email and such. How difficult is it for you to do this? Make it a habit to create this space of calm. Think of the wood chipper again, is reading your email on par with being chucked into the wood chipper? No? Then it probably can wait a few minutes.
Finally avoid mindless activities. Be intentional even about doing nothing. Be intentional about relaxing. Be intentional about problem solving. Learn to be more intentional, be inquisitive about what you do, what you feel, and how you process your life.
“Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observes the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.” Lotus Sutra Chapter XVII
