No Coffee Day 9: Strength
This morning I went to Starbucks with my brother (Jon) for breakfast. Quite honestly, I was very tempted to grab a coffee. In my mind, the following thoughts were running through my mind:
Then something crossed my mind. I made a resolve to not drink coffee. Yes, I know I made this multiple times, but this time, my resolve is different. And I had the following thought, which made any urge to drink evaporate:
"This couldn't hurt.""Stop being so legalistic."
"You could actually use a cup today!"
Then something crossed my mind. I made a resolve to not drink coffee. Yes, I know I made this multiple times, but this time, my resolve is different. And I had the following thought, which made any urge to drink evaporate:
My success in not drinking coffee (or in anything) ... my willpower ... or rather, the willpower of a man, depends not on the strength of his emotions, but rather on the strength his resolve and commitment to his cause.
Comments
Physically and mentally, it's grueling. You are forbidden to shift your body at all once you have been seated, no matter how severe your discomfort. If you are feeling discomfort then you are to meditate upon that discomfort, watching the effect that physical pain has on you. In our real lives, we are constantly hopping around to adjust ourselves around discomfort- physical, emotional, and psychological- in order to evade the reality of grief and nuisance.
This meditation teaches that grief and nuisance are inevitable in this life, but if you can plant yourself in stillness long enough, you will in time, experience the truth that that everything (both uncomfortable and lovely) does eventually pass.
I know this is a bit austere but people do this. It's possible. And this is certainly a feat when there are mosquitoes out to get you!
I read about this. It was a story about a lady who did this as part of her search for devotion in India, hence the mosquitoes (and thankfully not a personal experience with these mosquitoes)