Praxis

One of the things I like to do first thing in the morning, before I even open my eyes is to say to myself, "Well, John Calvi, congratulations; you have another day in your life. What's your gut response to that?" I know that I'm at the top of my spiritual health and emotional well-being if my response to that is "Thank you", and if my response is not "thank you", I know I have some homework to do before I offer anybody anything. It's a good barometer; it lets me know how I'm doing.

Each of us has things that keep us strong. It's very important that we know what they are and that we make a daily practice of using them. People use all kinds of different things to keep themselves strong. Some people use running and swimming. Some people use playing bridge or playing chess. Some people use particular friendships or going to movies, going for walks. There are all different kinds of things we can use to stay strong.

You can use just about anything you want to give you joy and strength, but it should have two qualities to it. First it should be cleansing. Whatever it is you are using as a regular practice to stay strong must relieve you from you the burdens of that day. You need to let things go, to set aside the work of the day. This is absolutely vital. One of the nice things about swimming laps is that you cannot be called to the telephone to get called back to work! Sometimes this is very important!

Also, your practice must increase your capacity for concentration. As we become tired in the face of life's wounds, one of the first things that will be taken from us is our capacity to discriminate and deliberate and focus. It's absolutely vital that you increase your capacity for concentration so you can tell when things are not going well, so that you can tell the difference between your stuff and someone else's stuff, and so you know whether or not you're dealing with an actual crisis or just fear.

John Calvi, (edited) from The Dance Between Hope and Fear