Mindfulness without the Bells and Beads

Chapter 7Your Journey

We kicked off Part I of this book with a description of how paying closer attention to what I was doing with my own mind and committing to training it has enabled me to move from poverty to prosperity. Being dealt the random hand of being born into a poor family, living in a trailer with no college-educated family members, and being raised by a single mother of three could have resulted in a much different journey and life. I must be honest here that mindfulness was not the only thing that affected my journey; there was also preparation, hard work, continuous learning, surrounding myself with people who challenged me to grow, and, of course, good luck and timing. That said, mindfulness, Catch and Release, and other self-developed techniques I'll share in Part II played outsized roles in influencing my ability to see more clearly and respond to life thoughtfully as opposed to buying into the story the mind automatically makes up in reaction to the countless number of life situations we regularly face that require us to make choices. Those individual responses and choices seemed small, even insignificant, at the time. However, just like small financial investments grow large with interest compounding over time, clear seeing, thoughtful responses, and wise choices compound, leading to a massive impact on your trajectory and experience of life.

So, let's talk a bit about your journey for a moment. You are also on an unknown but promising journey through this ...