2024-01-14
39 分钟So what if you had the ability to feel peaceful, at ease, grounded, focused, and calm, no matter what was happening around you, no matter how calamitous or virtuous loud or quiet things were?
And what if that power also came with the ability to notice when your mind had dropped into a spin cycle of self destructive overthinking, chatter, doom, looping, fear, and overwhelm, and then literally just.
Let it all go?
Even if the circumstances were still there, it would give you this proverbial off switch and guide you back to peace and ease.
Today, I want to share a deeply personal journey with you, one that, in a sense, builds on the conversation that we began last week around attention, and also probably explains to you my long standing fascination with and commitment to meditation, and why I believe it is the single most powerful and accessible meta skill in your quest to live a good life, no matter what comes your way.
Because it gives you agency over your attention and, as you will hear me, share even more than circumstance, where your attention goes, so goes your life.
This will also be the final bonus episode.
As regular listeners know, for many years we've produced two episodes a week, but starting in December of last year, we added a third bonus episode first to help guide you through a special year end review process, and for the first few weeks in January, to support our month long January Jumpstart series with a clear framework for achievement.
And now, in this final bonus episode, with a much more personal story about the power of meditation in a way that you may have never thought about it, and why you might want to explore saying yes to starting your own practice today.
And I'll wrap this final bonus episode with a very special kind of guided practice that's designed to both bring you back to a grounded place and also open your heart just a bit, which is a great way to step into this new year.
So excited to share this final bonus episode with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
So twelve years ago, my world more or less fell apart, and only three people knew.
It was March of 2010.
Stepping off a flight in Austin, Texas, something goes a bit haywire in my brain.
I notice an odd fluttering sensation in my left ear, not so unusual after flying.
But by evening, when I lay my head on the pillow, this clicking or seeping sound, a bit like a Geiger counter, starts tapping away.
And over the next four days, the noise persists, making it near impossible to sleep.
I'm getting exhausted, sensitized to sound, and a bit freaked out.
So I start popping pills in a desperate attempt to get some shuteye, and I made it through that window.