The Olympics are in our lives for the next 2 weeks and watching these incredible elite competitors reminds me of how many of us dreamed about performing on the athletic field and maybe even saw ourselves at performing at their level.
Of course, 99.99% of us never even come close.
What if, however, we just aspire to be the best athlete we possibly can be and how can our resilience help us achieve that objective?
This past weekend I played in my golf club’s annual championship tournament. We are sorted by our handicaps, so I played against a group of players of similar ability. I usually finish in the middle of the pack in these kinds of events.
This year, I decided to add a meditation preparation to my work in addition to my practice sessions on the driving range. Earlier in the season, I scoured my iTunes looking for golf meditations and found a few that focused on good swing thoughts and relaxing during the rounds. I tried them out, but they didn’t seem to make much difference in my scores.
A few weeks ago, I decided to return to the library of my teacher, and came across several meditations on self-compassion. I thought that would be an interesting approach to take as I can sometimes get a bit aggravated with myself when I don’t hit a golf shot that I expect or even worse, completely screw it up. After all, shouldn’t I aspire to hit the ball as good as the rest of the players.
Self-compassion was exactly the medicine I needed. I forgave myself more quickly for hitting bad shots and celebrated more fully when I hit good ones. I was able to stay more focused on each shot while enjoying the sunshine and flowers and wild turkeys and deer that share our course.
I shot well too. Won my division by 5 strokes and I’m now onto the next round of competition. I’ll be applying my self-compassion meditations to other parts of my life. We’re all working hard and doing the best we can to be the athletes and people who we truly are.
And speaking of mindfulness and meditations…
Happenings
I am offering a new series of Resilient Mindfulness programs that are geared to helping you perform better and be happier at work and at home. These sessions are about 10-12 minutes long and focus on topics such as
- Working with Clarity
- Building Better Relationships at Work
- Getting Your Day Off to a Great Start
- Strengthening Your Empathy Muscle
- Managing Negative Emotions
I’ll be adding a new meditation every month to the series.
Right now, I am offering this with an Introductory Price of $19.95 which will provide your lifetime access to these and any additional ones that I add to the Series. Once I add another 5 to the program, the price will go up, so head on over and check out my website for more Information!
Come join in and see how mindfulness practice can improve your life
© Richard Citrin 2021
