I live in a city. Not necessarily a big city, but a city none-the-less. The business often gets to me and I begin to feel anxious about how to best slow down. I think of all the things I didn’t get done, the things I only gave half of my attention to or all the mistakes I’ve made. During these moments, I can either let the despair of the moment take me – OR – I can rise above it.

Who doesn’t want to rise above it?

I read recently some steps on how to stay grounded (https://secure.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/display/articledisplay.cgi?aid=66431&aff=): the first of them being to “live simply and deliberately”. I translate that to having purpose or rather to have the activities I engage in to have purpose. The days/nights I feel most like letting the despair of the moment take me, I am sitting around, probably watching television thoughtlessly, and waiting for change to happen to me. I’ve realized, though, that activity is necessary. It is not only for the sake of distraction, but also for the sake of giving purpose. Ever head the saying about idle hands?

Baking. Cleaning. Writing. These are some things that give me purpose to some extent. Today, I made bread for the first time in a long time. Not the kind that you make in a bread machine because I don’t have one, but the kind where you mix the ingredients, hand knead and let rise. The process in and of itself takes about 3 hours. It’s slow, measured, and purposeful. Baking is the art of measuring. So you must be mindful while in the process. Kneading the bread is physical. You have to work the bread several times over several hours to get it to rise properly. Once baked, you may feast on the bread or give it to someone else thereby is becomes provisional.

When feeling overwhelmed, try activities that you find mindful, with some work that can provide some form of sustenance regardless for whether it’s for body, mind or soul.