This explanation isn’t entirely untrue, but what I didn’t say was, “I’m struggling with a potential drinking problem and I’m using daily meditation practice and periodic abstinence in an effort to get it under control. Because, you see, I don’t want to stop drinking entirely, but I also don’t want to become an alcoholic. And if I don’t do something, that’s precisely where I’m heading.” Yeah, “I’m on a cleanse” sounds way better.
In his book Ego Is The Enemy, Ryan Holiday delves into why and how ego can be both our greatest asset and biggest liability. As an asset, ego drives us to succeed in a competitive world. Alternatively, it can at the same time become the undercurrent that drags us down and becomes our eventual undoing.
“At least she didn’t ask me to pick up any beer,” I thought to myself as I grabbed the car keys and drove the 1.5 pine wooded miles to the store. Five minutes later, I shifted the car into park and headed in. I was a man on a mission.
As I carefully examine my progress over the past year, the impact of daily meditation is profound. Its influence has seeped into every corner of my life.
There is no doubt that this episode has been and continues to be the toughest weight loss slog of my life. But, while slow, it is steadily moving in the right direction. And that would be DOWN.