Day 17: Shit Gets Real
1. If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to start with yourself.
2. Nobody wants to be helped.
3. Law-of-attraction bypass is the new spiritual bypass.
It’s day 17 of this particular 30-day challenge and shit just gets more and more real (whatever that means).
Note that we stop eating somewhere between 4 and 6 pm and don’t break our fast until 10 am, which is 16 to 18 hours later.
My vipassana meditation sessions have reached a level of focus and depth that seems similar to what I experience on a ten-day retreat; lots of extremely painful gross sensations, and lots of full-body subtle sensations.
The cold showers have now reached nine minutes, which is a long time to be standing around in a shower for, let alone a cold one. I notice that I have some aversion to going into the bathroom to have the shower, but as soon as I am in it I feel great for the whole time.
I know that a lot of people are being inspired by these posts and are doing their own challenges. Today I will give you this recommendation: make each item specific and measurable. For example, instead of writing, “Meditate,” write “Meditate for ten minutes.” Also, instead of writing “Do pull-ups,” write, “Pull-up (count).” Then you can either feel the satisfaction of crossing off a well-defined goal, or write down the quantity that you achieved (which will inevitably go up). What we measure tends to improve.
I also want to address the issue of time. Some folks might think that they don’t have time for all of what is on my schedule. Well, I have completed everything (that takes extra time) on this schedule, apart from the afternoon meditation, by about 7:30 am.
Let’s keep going! :-)
