They were young, not more than a few months old, open, playful, and free.

They scurried back and forth, chasing each other around the yard, sometimes leaping in the air to avoid collision. Baby squirrels are getting a taste of life outside the nest, I realized as I stood watching the antics from the kitchen window. It’s officially summer and the young ones are striking out on their own.

My next thought took me by surprise: I hope a fox doesn’t come along and grab one of them.

Ugh, I thought to myself, nothing like ruining the moment.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, though, I understood why. Last night, while watching TV with Michael, an alert interrupted our show with the announcement that the US had bombed Iran’s nuclear sites. As soon as I heard the news, my nervous system went on high alert. Here we go again, I thought to myself. Will the drama ever end?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m going to the mental gym every single day for hours, working hard to keep my nervous system regulated. I’ve never been good at dissociation or compartmentalization, so when something upsets me, I find it hard to put it aside. Instead, I’ll mentally chew it to pieces. At least I used to. I’m getting better now that I’ve learned to make friends with my mind by meditating.

Meditation has taught me to extend the practice of presence to everyday life. This means that when my thoughts start bothering me, I gently bring myself back to where I am and what I’m doing. In this way, I use suffering as motivation to practice the only thing that makes me feel empowered: staying in the present moment.

These days, we’re all being challenged to come to terms with the uncertainty of life – the reality that we have so little control over what happens “out there.” It’s a stark reminder to focus on the inside first, to regulate ourselves into a calm, centered place so we can do the good work of tipping the scales back toward a more humane and loving world.

“Let your suffering be a doorway to greater consciousness,” I once heard Eckhart Tolle say. Something I remember with each hour clocked in the mental gym of life. Presence brings peace and the strength to act in ways that make a difference.

Love,
Cheryl

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