The Challenge to Look Within
Leave it to my children to push me in ways I never thought possible. My thirteen year old son decided two days ago to "not eat" for a week. My motherly instinct recoiled in horror. You can't do that! You can't survive that long without food! You have to be careful. You can't just will your body with your thoughts. These were all the thoughts that went through my mind, but luckily I have been practicing mindfulness, which has helped me to observe my thoughts before they come out in potentially harmful words. Far from mastering this technique, I was able to administer a small amount of control over my thoughts and hold back from sharing the fears I had inside. I am not sure anything I said would have dissuaded him anyways. He was very determined to try this experiment, I think in some way to gain a measure of control over his chaotic teenage world. None the less, it was a great opportunity for me to observe my own fears and patterns of [...]