Good morning,
Good evening,
Good afternoon,
Wherever you may be,
Whatever you may be doing,
Hello.
So,
As is what's becoming a bit of a ritual for me,
Doing a talk after my inside time alive.
And today is the 31st of August 2024.
I know why I smile because I remember as a kid,
Even as a teenager,
What I used to do on the weekends was I used to watch,
My mom was a massive science fiction fan,
So she had books and she was a big Star Trek fan and we watched all the Star Treks,
The original ones,
And I can't remember the other ones.
And I just thought of,
You know,
Captain Louis Picard saying,
Star date,
Date time,
Whichever one it is,
Someone out there will be able to tell me.
But basically I heard that voice right now and it's quite poignant because I just did this meditation with everybody,
Maybe you were on it,
About the inner child.
And a fair few things have been going on this week with me,
Not with me,
Around me,
And to a degree with me.
There's been a death in the family and it's been very sad.
Very sad.
And whilst the passing away wasn't a shock,
It was a surprise.
And it was painful.
And I bring it up really because it came up first and foremost,
But also because it speaks to the meditation that I had,
What came up for me,
And it also speaks to the journey of getting to this date and time and place right now.
And so my mum passed away in 2018 and it was a very difficult experience.
It was also a joyous experience.
I don't mean joy as in,
Well,
I know what I mean.
And I say that because my mum was I think,
Ready to go somewhere else.
And as much as for me and for our family,
For me and for our family and friends and people who knew her and even people who she touched and she didn't know,
It was a very difficult and sad time knowing that we will never see her in this life at least.
But I took comfort in the fact that she went out peacefully and in a way that was right for her.
Was right for her and that she gained peace and she is in a place now where she is happy.
And the thing with my mum is that she was always authentic and that's the legacy that she's imparted on me and my children.
And really on this and circling back to the original piece of this is,
You know,
One a bit of a story.
But also I've been asked twice this week the question of why I do this.
And I do it because I was asked this question by Lou Redmond.
Shout out to Lou.
If you don't already,
Please do follow and listen to Lou.
Great guy,
Great words.
And he asked me that question and the answer for me was meditation saved my life in more ways than one.
Meditation and mindfulness allowed me to be more grounded,
More authentic,
More present.
And on the back end of that,
Happy.
I remember always talking about you know,
Going through some dark days in 2020 and I remember always thinking,
I want to be happy,
I want to be happy,
I want to be happy.
I want to be happy,
I want to be happy,
I want to be happy.
And then interestingly enough,
About a year ago,
I caught myself,
I was like,
I haven't thought about being happy in a long time.
And I guess it's because A,
I am and B,
Happiness is not tangible for me,
I believe.
Happiness isn't something that we acquire,
We gain,
We hold and you know,
Is fleeting.
Happiness is a state and a place and a presence that exists full stop.
I am.
I am.
That's pretty much it.
So I come back to that question,
Why do I do this?
I do this because meditation allowed me to be me,
Be that person who I kind of lost sight of.
You know,
I was able to re-engage with my inner child,
Some of those shadow parts within me.
And I do it really because and maybe she did,
I don't know,
I never really asked her,
I never spoke to her about it because I wasn't in that space that I'm in now,
Then.
But I feel like you know,
Meditation and mindfulness perhaps would have brought a little more peace to my mom.
And you know,
I was talking with Lou and I was like,
You know,
I originally started this journey,
You know,
As a coach and wanting to be a coach,
Etc,
Etc.
And I came to the realization a couple of weeks ago that,
Well,
Probably longer than that,
You know,
Because I'd always had discomfort around that word coach.
And to be honest with you,
I love coaching.
I love it,
You know,
Coaching has been part of this journey and coaching has been part of getting me to where I am right now.
Something just didn't fit and feel.
And when he asked me that question,
When Lou asked me that question,
I realized that what I love about meditation is that these words will be heard by someone who really needs to hear them.
I have no control over that.
That's what I love so much about this digital age,
Whether it's inside timer or something else like that.
Through the medium of the internet,
Someone sitting in Cape Town,
South Africa,
The end of August 2024,
Can reach and speak to somebody in Wisconsin,
Hawaii,
Botswana,
Norway,
Australia,
Singapore,
China,
Japan,
Tomorrow,
Next month,
Next year,
In 10 years time,
Whoever needs to hear these words or whatever words I've said elsewhere out there or shall say,
Can hear them.
Can hear them and it has the ability to affect,
Change,
Hopefully within them or you know,
To give them calm,
Peace of mind,
To let people know that they're not alone.
I remember my long-term therapist friend Diane,
I'll never forget these words,
I was about 26,
27,
Maybe 28,
And she said,
One thing you've got to realize,
Tari,
Is that all of this stuff that you're feeling right now is what every single other person your age is feeling at the exact same time.
Not same time,
But you know,
Is feeling the exact same thing.
And just hearing those words allowed me to release and be present and be happy and calm with what was going on with me at that time.
And that's why I do this.
I do this with myself four years ago in mind,
I do this with myself eight years ago in mind.
No,
That's not true.
I do this with myself specifically four years ago.
Because four years ago,
I was starting a journey that I had no idea I needed to go on or how to go about it.
And you know,
When I give my meditations,
Whether it's live or recordings,
And even now I'm speaking to that version of myself four years ago.
Speaking words that I hope he would hear,
Would help him and support him.
And in doing that,
I hope that whoever's listening to this or anything else or anything else does find help and hope and peace and calm.
