A new Leaf: Counting My Blessings

I decided to try something new today - meditation MY WAY. I was inspired by some Indian fellow on GMA who suggested that meditating on the things one is thankful for will enrich one's life in a myriad of ways. Of course he said more than this but this is a summary of what I remember.

I have never been very good at meditating. Maybe I am ADD? No matter how hard I try, my thoughts meander here and there and everywhere. I tried TM back in college but remember being mad at myself for thinking about how cute the guy was who was instructing me and whether he would be able to tell that I wasn't really meditating and if would he hate me for pretending etc. In short, I never could do it.

Today I decided to meditate by counting my blessings in the shower. I chose the shower rather than bedtime (ala the song "count your blessings instead of sheep") because I am blessed with the ability to sleep the moment my head touches the pillow.

I started by reciting in my mind how thankful I am for my family...but then I found myself thinking that the water was too hot so I thought about how thankful I am for hot running water. Next I thought how thankful I am for my health ... but soon found myself noting that I have so much to do today so I pulled the thoughts back by thinking how thankful I am that my time is filled. Each time an unrelated thought crept in, I converted it to a thought about a related blessing. I can do this!

I emerged from the shower with wrinkly skin but feeling refreshed and, well, .... thankful!