The Courage to be Present
I quoted legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi in my weekly Grasshopper Note last week. He said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I got to wondering about that last night as I was getting tired and ornery.
It seems that being tired brings out less than useful patterns for me. I find the glass less full as I lose the courage to stay present. If I’m in conversation, I go into my head and come out with some outdated, conditioned retorts – ones that don’t work in the light of day.
The best thing for me at that tired point is to end the conversation and go off to sleep because I’m really not fit company. But suppose I had to remain in the conversation for some reason, the ally I would need is presence.
Sometimes we all get tired and irritable. It’s often when some of the worst things our mind can create will come out. Sometimes it’s entertaining; most often, though, it contains an edge. If you get the gift of awareness as you’re about to enter your fit of pique, you can summon your ability to stay present. That means to observe your response before it leaves your lips. That way you can preview it and select another response that contains more presence.
It takes courage to stay present in challenging times, but it’s the ally that will keep you out of harm’s way. It seems counter-intuitive to say that when you are tired and have to remain engaged, that the best solution is to wake up. Wake up to your ability to be present.
I can tell you from experience that it’s not easy, but it is rewarding. Do the arithmetic. How many times have you said something harmful when you were tired or ill? Being present will prevent you from, once again, letting your guts spill.
The courage to be present in the face of fatigue will save you countless hours of fence mending and let you sleep with a clear conscious.
All the best,
John
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