Jon Kabat-Zinn founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in Boston, Mass. teaches the use of mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, and pain. He has also published many books and audio recordings on mindfulness, one of my personal favorites being “Full Catastrophe Living”
The reason I am writing this blog is because I love his quote in the above photo and wanted to share it with you.
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
Life is like the ocean it’s big, calm, rough at times, warm, cold and sometimes blue. Let’s face it we’ve had our fair share of waves and situations come crashing down on us whether we expected them or not. However, in those exact moments we have two choices. Run or surf.
If you choose to run, the waves won’t stop they will actually follow you and maybe pull you under. You may think you’re doing the right thing but it won’t last for very long. The running goes on and on and you become more exhausted, depleted, and scared, you feel as though you can’t catch your breath. Those waves just keep on comin’.
If you choose to surf, then the world is your oyster. Now you have the ability to face the waves with an amazing attitude and a new added skill. When you surf, you are living in the moment and you are in control of yourself, not the waves. You feel on top of the world and it’s easier to go with the flow than against it. You take the waves in stride and what felt scary at first is now something exciting. You understand the rhythm of the ocean and can time the big waves that may catch you off guard. Don’t be afraid just get back on your surf board and try again. You feel so brave and proud of how you are handling things and you should be! People on the shoreline are looking at you wishing they could surf like you do and you know it. This makes you smile from within and even gives you peace while riding that wave.
So who are you, a runner or a surfer? I’m a surfer girl. 🙂
Much Love,
Jen
xo