Your immediate surroundings, like the flat you are living in, it’s state of order or disorder, it’s state of organization or chaos, is an direct reflection of the state of your mind. – Not in terms of aesthetics or style or taste – the beauty, as we know, lies in the eyes of the beholder. Some like modern purity, some like it more in a baroque style with lots of ornaments and little figures everywhere. That is not the issue, that is simply own taste. – But in regards to how many “open cycles” are reflected in there, how many piles are waiting to be handled, how many tasks are waiting to be finished – this state of affairs interacts directly with the state of your mind.
We know from the Buddhistic meditation that achieving a clear mind lets you see the essential things so much better. They have this glorious sample in their teaching of the glass of water with some mud in it. If you stir it up, the water is all grey and you do not see through it. That is the state of an agitated mind with thoughts firing in all directions – nothing is to be seen in a clear way. And if you place your glass there and wait, the mud slowly sinks down to the bottom and eventually the water above becomes clear. That is the analogy of a calm, clear mind. That is what you do meditation for.
Every open cycle, everything left undone, half-done, nearly-done is like the mud in the waterglass. And for this matter, the rule applies to your thoughts and also to your immediate surroundings. If everything you see is an “not yet done” and screaming at you and trying to catch and fix your attention, your mind is torn between too many things and your capacity for clear thought is greatly reduced.
The foundation to improvement lies in your ability to be aware of and perceive what is completed and what is nearly completed or half way done or “somewhere in the middle of it” or “in progress”.
A simple exercise can help you sharpen this awareness. An exercise you can well integrate into your daily life without having to spend any additional time or effort on it.
When you perform the actions of your daily life, from simply taking your shower to going to work and do your job – put your attention on when you have completed a cycle and can say “that is done”. Sample: Taking a shower: You get into the shower, do your thing, get out, dry yourself, hang up the towel, maybe even clear some of the shower – then it is DONE. Then acknowledge it with “That is done”.
Do this, as often as you want, over your whole day – just every time you complete something, small or large, acknowledge it in your mind. – This way you train your mind to focus one “Done’s” and this lays the foundation of training your mind to get things done and bring more order and more clarity.
Try it for a few days and see if it works for you.
