“More focus. Less distraction.”

It’s easy to get caught up in a non stop train of thought. The thoughts running through our minds can verge on the ridiculous, pure fantasy. That's all they really are. Or we will start making lists. How many times have you sat on your mat, begun your practice, only to find a shopping list starting to form in your mind? Your mind is trying to keep you busy. It's as if your mind doesn't want you to discover the secret of how to control your thoughts. So it keeps throwing more at you. But it's not like that.

Spend today focused on the goal of being, and of avoiding thinking wherever possible. If you're driving, just drive, don't let your mind wander. You'll be in the moment, you'll be practicing zen, and you'll be a far safer driver. At work, focus on the task at hand, no matter how seemingly simple, it's so easy to let a simple task appear like it doesn't need our presence, that it is repetitive, monotonous. We think we can let our mind wander, and the task will attend to itself.

But it's right there, at the centre of that action, that the opportunity to practice sits. Because at the centre of that task, lies an opportunity for a meditative practice, of focusing on the moment, and only the moment, no matter how often that moment repeats itself. Allow yourself to see it through fresh eyes, by letting the act of thought fall away, and the act of simply being take it's place.

Today's thought is from the series '31 Ways to Have a Better Day'.