Making space

I was thinking about cleaning my closet this morning.

The same closet I’ve been thinking about cleaning for months now. My mind wandered to all of the other places I should be clearing out. I watched my mind explode with all of the other things I should be doing today.  I felt my throat tighten, my breath shorten, and my muscles tense as a familiar sense of overwhelm flooded my body-mind-spirit.
I took another breath and paused. I need more space inside of myself. So, I played around with feeling the speed and density of my mind contrasted with the fluid movement of my breath. I brought my attention more and more to my breath and less and less to the growing list in my  mind.

It wasn’t easy, but I stuck with it.

Breath by breath, I brought my attention back again. It didn’t take too long until I felt my throat soften, shoulders drop, muscles relax and mind settle.
“Space – the final frontier” rings through my mind from distant Star Trek episodes. Finding space within, I notice that there is much more space around me.
Now about that closet…