Practicing Mindfulness with a Rock

Greetings from an El Nino soggy Northern California. This week I achieved a life ambition. I took two of my Chrysalis students out in the midst of the storms and taught them how to diverge runoff. They loved changing the world with the same enthusiasm I do. I watched as one boy brought a rock to place in a line of rocks that diverted some of the runoff toward our diversion channel. He was about to put the rock down in the line when he paused for about 5 seconds. His eyes moved back and forth along the line of rocks. Then he placed his rock specifically. I knew exactly what had been going through his mind because I have done the same thing a hundred times and in that moment I realized there was an important meta-lesson about mindfulness I could verbalize for both of us.

I said, “Triston, I was watching you and I could tell that you were thinking about which of several places you should place that rock.” He agreed that that had been what he was doing. “What you were doing was practicing the most important skill you will use in your life. You were aware that the rock would have different influences depending on where it was placed and you were deciding which placement would have the best effect. In life, you will be presented with choices as to where to place your life energy. You will need to decide which places will create the best effect on the world around you. So you were practicing with that rock the same kind of thinking that will help you be effective with your life.”