Your Daily Brush: Fog vs. Mountain - the Practice of Discernment
The world demands our attention in so many ways. Discernment is a decision making tool to help us make the best use of our time.
Dear Friends,
If you are like most of us, you have a thousand things vying for your attention. In addition to age old concerns like caring for our loved ones, studying, working, or the eternal task of housework, technology has created even more demands on our time.
When your to-do list feels non-stop, it can be helpful to stop and ask yourself: What matters the most in this moment? What matters the most today?
Below is an image of the Jungfrau taken on a foggy day, of which there were many when living at 5,300 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level. Some days the fog felt endless; non-stop for up to two weeks at a time, and the most one could see was just a few feet or meters ahead.
Despite feeling in the moment that the fog was forever, it was in fact transient in comparison to the mountains it hid. Same goes for our lives and the demands we face.
Things may appear to be urgent and important in a given moment. But are they really? Which demands are signficant? And which ones are time wasters that present themselves as urgent demands?
Rx: When you start to feel flooded by stimuli around you, be it entertainment, news, social media, social obligations or anything else that cries out for your attention and resources, take a deep breath and step back. Then ask yourself:
What is the mountain?
What is the fog?
Where and how are you investing your most precious resources of time, love and energy?
Who are the people that matter the most to you in your life?
What are the values that matter most to you in your life?
Are your actions aligned with your core values?
If not, what might you do differently to restore alignment with your core values?
You can ask such questions as part of your ongoing routine of mental hygiene to help you prioritize your day and live a life of no regret. And you can also reach for these questions when you find yourself caught off guard in a state of overwhelm because of a multitude of demands.
To your health!
