The phrase “mind like water” totally captivated me when I first ran across it in David Allen’s Getting It Done, a national best-seller about stress-free productivity.
Here is what he says: “In karate there is an image that’s used to define the position of perfect readiness: ‘mind like water.’ Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact.”
Worry and stress runs most of our lives. We might be very productive but highly stressed. The reason for the stress is that we never get to the large overarching things we really want to do. We’re too busy but not always about the things that matter most.
When we do have some time our minds are occupied with worries about what we didn’t get done, what we should get done and what happens if we don’t get either of those done. When we’re finished worrying about that, we go back over it again.
Our minds are caught in endless loops of worry, frustration and stress. We over think everything. Emptying our minds and thinking of nothing is the most difficult thing we can do. We think of everything except nothing.
We have to be taught to meditate, to focus our minds on one thing. Even the thought of learning to meditate correctly can be stressful. What if we forget something while we’re meditating?
In Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren says, “If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate.” Worry is simply praying to yourself without accomplishing anything.
A great quote from scripture says it best: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers…Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m implementing some elements I’ve learned in Getting It Done or GTD as the internet is calling it. I believe, however, the book is a national bestseller because on most everyone’s Christmas wish list was one thing no one could buy: that illusive gift called peace.
