Isn’t it ironic how difficult it can be to Just. Be. Still? Seeing as the act of being still literally requires you to do absolutely nothing, you would think that stillness would be the easiest thing in the world to achieve.  And in theory this makes sense.  But for most of us, putting this theory into practice can be a real B*tch. Many of us spend a lot of time, energy, and money in the forms of holistic treatments, yoga classes, meditation guides, massage, vitamins, you name it, to quiet our minds. To Simply. Be. Still.

Recently, I’ve been setting time aside to meditate for twenty or thirty minutes on some/most mornings. When I meditate, I usually fight myself for the first 10-15 minutes at least.  The best analogy for my brain would be a racehorse chomping at the bit, raring to go at the starting bell.  My mind rushes off on all kinds of thought tangents before I’m finally, finally able to quiet down. Then, it’s almost been twenty or thirty minutes and sure enough my meditation session is nearly complete.

Anyways, something big recently dawned on me during one of these daily attempts to switch my thoughts off: I am constantly making problems for myself and I don’t even realize I am doing it!

The fact that I make a terrible habit of worrying in general is old news to me. Even if everything is going smoothly, I somehow find a worrisome thought to fixate on.  And I’ve done this since I can remember.

Now, I am making a conscious effort everyday to move beyond this destructive behavioral pattern. However, it never before occurred to me how finding comfort in the familiar act of worrying was pretty much the same thing as creating my own problems.

And who really wants to create more problems for themselves? I understand if your initial response is a sarcastic, “brilliant question, genius blogger! Clap clap clap..” But hear me out.

I’m confident that many people actually do subconsciously want to create their own problems, especially if they aren’t aware of it yet. If you’re always fixating on worry or breeding phantom issues that don’t need to exist, doesn’t it make sense that in some way you are welcoming more problems into your life? By asking for more stress, you’re showing that you want these issues…at least on some level.

Or maybe not. It’s just a theory.

Regardless, one major lesson I personally hope to learn overtime is how to be still. Really and truly still, in my mind and my heart and my body.

I remember when Facebook first hit the Internet and I was trying to pick my favorite “quotation” for my profile. I felt stressed because there were so many good ones I liked!

A few weeks ago I realized I have a favorite by far: Hakuna Matata. A lifelong goal for certain, but worth working towards.

What is your favorite quotation?**

**note: a friend and fellow traveller has a great blog that inspired me to ask questions to readers – I recommend Path XO by Dan Saba