No Easy Task

Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote,

Make sure you weave your parachute every day, rather than leave it to the time you have to jump out of the plane.

We don't have to wait till our stress levels are through the roof and we get a stomach ulcer to weave our parachute. We can take little steps every day to build up our physical and mental resilience, so that when we really need to call upon it, our parachute will open and bring us safely to earth. When life becomes stressful, as it does and will, it sure helps to have a parachute on stand by to support us when we fall. Leaving things until they reach boiling point, before deciding what action we need to take, doesn't cut it if our plane is going down. We're far more likely to become reactive, panicky and less focused. When we weave our parachute, we're taking a little time each day to nurture ourselves and build our resilience. Weaving our parachute means making ourselves a priority. This is no easy task. When we study and practice together as a group, the sharing of challenges and learnings is less daunting.

---

Very little grows on jagged rock.

Be ground. Be crumbled,

so wildflowers will come up

where you are.

You have been stony for too many years.

Try something different. Surrender.

Rumi