Maintain the Shine

Pardon the directness but–stop sitting around, and go take that car for a wash! Seriously. In fact, some people say caked on dirt can chip the paint off a car. You don’t want that, right? Still not convinced? Maybe you just had your car washed. Alright. Let’s change gears then.

How about considering the next item on your list…not dry cleaning or the doctor–but you. Perhaps you could use some cleaning right in those little crevices of your heart and mind. You know, those hard-to-reach places. It’s easy to visualize how a car gets dirty–bird droppings, dirty water, dust, leaves and so on. It may not be so easy to figure out the pollutants of your heart and mind though, and that’s why meditation is a must. Whether you’ve collected bad thoughts and habits over a period of time or you’ve let stress and bad decisions take control, meditation will help you get your act together.

When you station a car for an automatic car wash, it’s pretty fast. You don’t inspect each speck of dirt and think about where it came from and what to do about it–you just get the whole thing cleaned. Similarly, you don’t need to sort through the whole medley of thoughts or figure out each little thing that is pushing the stress button. Just station yourself in a quiet place, and let your inner system take care of the rest. With the silence and alertness that meditation brings, you’ll stay as perfect as a magical dirt-resistant car.