This morning, as I was getting ready for work and following my normal morning routine my son started talking with me about why I am losing weight. When I mentioned that I didn’t want to die early from my extra weight he was surprised and said, “your weight could kill you?” I explained to him the possible poor effects of obesity and just how many different ways that it could hurt me: my heart, my lungs, my kidneys, my pancreas, my eyes, my knees, my feet, etc. He continued to question me about this and we got to talking about how I’m trying to live more mindfully and more compassionately. When I mentioned mindfulness, he asked me what mindfulness was. I began to explain it to him and, being the kid he is, he just kept asking one question after another after another. When he gets like this, it’s not normal kid type questions. He has the ability to ask deep and probing questions and make observations that cause you to stop in wonder as you realize you’re talking to a kid who’s only six. We talked about mindfulness, meditation, vegetarianism, compassion, attachment, impermanence, simplicity and greed among other things. It was really a deep and moving conversation. His mind moves in ways that amaze me. When we were talking about attachment and how I want to get rid of a lot of the extraneous things in my life, he suggested having a yard sale to get rid of the extra stuff. I mentioned donating books, movies and CDs to a library and extra clothing and home goods to Goodwill or the Salvation Army so that I can help as many people as possible and he immediately understood. “If we sell things in a yard sale, you’ll just get money for it and use it to buy stuff and you don’t want or need more stuff!” It was great to see the light go off in his head as he comprehended and understood the bigger points I was trying to make. We ended up talking for 45 minutes as he kept probing and asking and thinking. At one point, he mentioned that I was going to be late to work and I told him that I didn’t care and that talking with him was more important to me than getting to work at a specific time. The smile that popped up on his face when he heard made the morning totally worthwhile. In the end I wasn’t late to work because I don’t have a set start time (one of the few really good things about being in a salaried position) and I got to share a great time with my son. It really got my day started off in a great way and I’ve been happy about it ever since.
A talk with my son
August 12, 2010 by dharmaloss
Posted in Buddhism, Impermanence, Meditation, Mindfulness, Weight Loss | Tagged happiness, kids, meditation, mindfulness, weight loss | Leave a Comment
My current weight
starting weight on 6/30/2010: 330
current weight (as of 8/21/2013): 283
loss: 47 lbsAbout me
I am a (formerly) 330 pound guy from Maine who is exploring Zen and Buddhist practices as a key to living a balanced and healthy life. This blog will serve as a place to record my progress in reaching a healthy weight and lifestyle as well as my thoughts on mindfullness and Buddhist practice.My twitter feed
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