I’ve been thinking a lot about opposites lately and how opposites balance life. They are everywhere. In Ayurveda, we say that “like increases like” and “opposites balance”. Lately we talk in extremes. Them vs. us. Blessing vs. curse. Good vs. bad.
Things are either good or bad. They can not be both. There seems to be no balance. There seems to be very little middle ground. We live in the new normal of extremes, but the universe is made up of opposites and all the levels in between. It is what keeps balance. Hot and cold. Positive and negative. Light and heavy. Light and Shadow. Up and down.
Focus and distraction. Focus and distraction.
“Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.” –Sophocles.
I used to, like happens with most new things, find Facebook very challenging. It was a time vacuum and often kind of depressing, but I’ve developed an appreciation for Facebook (after cultivating a few skills, some discipline, and using it to practice letting go). Now, I open my Facebook page and I’m uplifted by friends who offer a morning quote to make me think or bring me joy. I see pictures of people I don’t see in the real world much anymore. I hear what fun is going on in my friends’ lives. In our extremes mentality, it’s either a love or hate with Facebook. I’ve got a little of both, somewhere in the middle and well, mostly balanced. When I use it to check in and see what’s going on, it’s great. When I use it to…well, uh, distract myself from what I need to be doing…
“Evolve to know when to turn it off.” –T. Shlain
…then I’ve forgotten when to turn it off. I use it to distract me from my Focus. So, I love Shlain’s quote above and her advice below:
“…one day a week you need to get your mind in a different. mode, you need to not work. Every week your brain–and your soul–needs t be reset.”
Are you using the tools or are they using you? The technology isn’t bad. Or good. But we either love or hate it. Extremes. How about…balance. Are you using the tools or are they using you?
Balancing Pose in Life: Ask yourself, when can you schedule in a break from work AND technology? Schedule it in (yes, use the technology, whether it’s a #2 pencil or that computer in your hand) and stick to it. Key to this pose: the discipline to stay with it, especially when it becomes challenging.
“The pose begins the moment you want to leave it.”
Trillium Ayurveda 