"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same".

I make no apologies for admitting to watching the tennis for hours during the Wimbledon Championships, and can't help noticing how the modern-day palyers continue playing even when they receive  painful, and sometimes serious, injuries.
While one part of me admires this, another wonders why they put themselves in a position where they are obligated to play under such adverse conditions.

Every year the tv presenters quote the Wimbledon motto -
"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same" which is part of Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If'.

Why do I bring this up? Because I am writing this blog on a basic back-up laptop because my treasured and trusty PC friend had itself a 'heart attack' last week and is away for two weeks for repairs. 

What with one thing and another, recently, I was sorely tempted to pass this week, then remembered the motto -- I really must print it out ans stick it on the wall in front of me LOL --

So I took ten minutes of 'me-time' to settle to the basic breath meditation and now I feel calmer and grounded, and while not quite ready to admit 'all is well with my world' I am ready to 'get stuck in' and move on (If only I could get used to this keyboard!).

So what am I really rabbiting on about?  The importance of going back to basics in times of adversity.  In the case of meditation this means the breath meditation.  If it does nothing else for you, it gives you those essential seconds/minutes to take stock before you respond with all guns blazing. :-)

Have I lost all my files?  Fortunately no.  I usually back up every Sunday, so yes, I've lost s few files, the details of which, in some cases, I can't even rememebr!  My excuse is the stress of the moment. LOL.

The breath meditation forces us to focus on the issue at hand (counting our breaths) while at the same time gifting us the space to hone our response to that adversity in the best way we can.

If you are using a journal, over a period it willl become clear how far you've traveled from your first attempt at the breath meditation and where you are now.  It will also reveal how many diverse situations the breath meditation can help you with, whether you use it for ten seconds or ten minutes.

You don't need to wait for times of adversity for this meditation, use it as and when you feel like it and have fun with it.