“Be where your feet are.”
— Mia Oldroyd, ultra-runner
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How do you run an ultramarathon of 50 miles, navigating your way up, over and around mountainous terrain for 20 odd hours, through all weather, and into the night?
The same way you get through any day of yours, regardless of what it contains, regardless of what personal mountains you have to overcome …
One step at a time.
It’s all the same.
It’s all the same. Truly.
My buddy Mia just ran such an epic journey, and “Be where my feet are” was her personal mantra to get her through the 20 hours of physical and emotional highs and lows.
It’s a lovely reminder, and it’s what I teach and try to live. Presence and the present moment is the key ingredient to anyone’s recipe for life.
While it might be easy to say and do from the comfort of my couch, this kind of spiritual teaching really proves it’s worth when you hit challenges.
Challenges are so good because you get to see this isn’t cliched fluff. When you apply the teaching, it works. It gives you your sanity back; a point of reference, an anchor in the storm.
You see, all challenges only become problems when we get lost in time. Only then.
And so, if you want a drama and suffering free existence – if you want the best from life – at some point you have to stop time-travelling.
Be where your feet are.
The truth is that the past and the future are impossible. Now is the only possibility. It’s the only certainty. It’s the only reality. It’s the only thing we can influence. The past is a memory and the future is a guess – both are untouchable.
But that doesn’t stop us from trying, does it?
All trouble begins when we leave here.
No matter the pain, the suffering, the disaster, the problem, only now is do-able. This is manageable. Everything else freaks us out.
So practice staying here.
Regardless of where you’ve been, get to where your feet are.
This is where life is.
Be here, now.
Job done.
Go well!
Arjuna