It's easy to forget the breath,
To get caught up in what we're doing,
Or to get worried about what might happen next.
Or as a friend of mine says,
To get wrapped around the axle about something.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope,
And fair warning,
This one is salty.
It's become something of a cultural joke,
The word squirrel.
If you or someone you know is easily distracted by something,
We often say squirrel because our attention is suddenly caught up and off chasing that something else that is usually completely unrelated.
Being distracted happens to all of us,
As we are walking down a sidewalk and talking with a friend,
We might see something shining and beautiful in the store window,
And shining and beautiful might mean anything from a ring to a tattoo parlor to a brand new tractor with a cup holder,
Because our squirrels are different for all of us.
Our attention that was on one thing now has suddenly bounded off after something else,
And that fact can be troubling,
And yet it's completely natural.
But there is something else that happens with the mind.
It can act like a terrier that was born and bred to chase and destroy squirrels.
Perhaps you've seen or you have a dog,
And you know exactly what I mean,
There you are walking along and all of a sudden the leash goes taut and jerks your shoulder out of joint,
And all because the dog wants to kill that goddamn cheeky rodent that is on the ground.
Inhale,
Exhale.
I bet you have some of these kinds of squirrels in your life.
And again,
Our squirrels are very particular to us.
There you are thinking about one thing,
And it could be a single word,
An image,
A smell,
A piece of news that means nothing to anyone else.
But there your mind is,
Off and chasing the squirrel.
The squirrels in your life might range from an event that happened to a job that you didn't forget,
To a family member who knows just how to poke that bear inside of you,
To a woulda,
Coulda,
Shoulda,
And do I even need to mention the squirrels like old lovers who broke our hearts,
Or exes and their new partners?
Goddamn fucking squirrels.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Something else,
Your squirrels might be less obvious.
Perhaps you call your ex a goddamn fucking squirrel,
And then you think,
Oh my,
I shouldn't have done that,
And then there your mind is,
Chasing the squirrel of how you always do the wrong thing,
And this is just more proof.
Not that I'm speaking from experience.
Inhale,
Exhale.
We cannot always be in control of our lives or of our minds.
But we can notice when we are allowing our minds to rocket off after something,
As something that ends up choking the life out of us.
Just as we forget to notice our breath,
We often forget to notice our mind.
If we can see how it has been primed,
Trained like a terrier,
To hunt down the cheeky bastards,
Then we might be able to inhale,
Exhale,
And pause before we go hurtling toward that thing,
Which only brings us frustration and pain.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Notice your breath.
Notice your mind.
And walk on mindfully,
Leaving the squirrels to play with their fucking nuts.
Namaste.
