One recent morning, I had an experience I’ve only had once or twice before, thankfully.  I woke up on a work morning when I had to be in my office particularly early – it’s one of the days of the week I have to be sure to be efficient so I can get out of the house on time.  On this particular morning, as I came into awareness, I noticed that there was a light in the sky that shouldn’t be there at the time I usually get up.  When I looked at the clock, I was amazed to see that it showed the time was 15 minutes before I was supposed to be leaving for the office.  I normally give myself an hour and a half to get ready to go to work in the morning.  This time, stretching my departure time the most it could be stretched, I had a maximum of a half-hour.

What surprised me was my response.  Rather than the panic I would have had in the past, I began to laugh and said to myself, “Well, this will be interesting.  Let’s see how you’re going to get out of here in a half hour.”  To add to the experience,  my dominant arm was having problems and wasn’t working as well as it might have, which added some clumsiness to the process of doing my best to get into clothes, do hair and face, and get out of the house.

The main thing I noticed, as a result of not getting upset, was that I just moved into a flow of efficiency and humor about the whole thing.  I put myself into the same clothes I had worn the day before – easier because I didn’t have to take time to figure out what to wear – and didn’t take time to make breakfast.  Throughout the little bit of time I had to get myself ready and on my way, I was surprised that I wasn’t tense, nor did I move into generating catastrophizing thoughts about how awful it was that I somehow turned off my alarm and would possibly be late to the office.  In fact, the thing I was most aware of was that I had gotten eight hours of solid sleep – something I haven’t had the pleasure of doing for a very long time!

The surprise was that, not only did I get out of the house on time, but I somehow moved through the experience in such a way as to remain relatively relaxed, even though I walked a little more quickly across the park that morning.  That got me to thinking about the impact of having practiced “riding the wave” of thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations over the years – that the practice has added up to a new skill I didn’t realize I had developed in this particular way.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to play with riding the wave of your own experiences – internal and external – and notice what happens when you don’t add anything to the wave – when you just move with what’s presenting itself to you.  This might be an external situation such as I had with being so very late getting up for work, or it might be an internal experience of strong emotions, upsetting thoughts, or physical discomfort.  Notice how riding the wave, rather than fighting it, moves you into a kind of flow that moves you from here to there with less stress and strain.  And, when you notice any struggle arising, play with letting it go and return to riding the wave of your experience.

As with all the experiments, be sure to include your body in this one.  It will tell you when you’re riding the wave, in the flow, and when you’re beginning to struggle with what’s emerging in your experience.  And, as with all the experiments, please remember that there are no right ways to do this one.  It’s just one more invitation to explore living more consciously and having greater access to making choices about how you move through what life brings your way.