I would like to share with you a little story about a turtle & a fox.
One day, a fox was walking in the forest when they spotted a turtle.
The fox thought to themself, "I'm going to have a great dinner tonight."
The turtle thought to themself, "I'm scared. Should I run? No, I'm much too slow to outrun the fox."
So, the turtle went inside their shell. The fox paced around the turtle all day, but eventually was tired of waiting & left.
Why is this story important & what does it teach us about mindfulness?
Imagine the fox is whatever plagues you - negative people, pain, stress, anxiety, fear, depression, sadness, worries. We cannot run away from these experiences & if we try to run, they will always catch up to us.
Rather, we should be like the turtle. We don't have to fight, or surrender to those feelings. We should be observing our reality with patience, & know that these feelings are just products of our own minds. We have the power to change our relationship with them.
Mindfulness meditation can be that shell - that safe place where we find calm, a wealth of patience, & can begin to change our relationship with those negative things in our lives.
Begin simply, one day at a time, one breath at a time. The foxes in our lives will always be, but we have the power to change the nature of our relationship with them.