“What you are aware of you are in control of; what you are not aware of is in control of you.” Anthony De Mello, “One Minute Wisdom”

Today I was too busy for my own good. I can tell because I did not work significantly on two things that are important at this time to me. One is my gardens and the other is the Gandhi/St. Ignatius conversation for an upcoming conference.

Looking back on the day I can see that talking and emailing too much prevented my working on what I wanted to do today. I can make up for the time lost working on garden or conference but, unless I learn from my mistakes, I am doomed to repeat them.

This is one thing Mahatma Gandhi and St. Ignatius of Loyola had in common. They were both deeply aware and reflective on their daily lives and consistently worked to do God’s will. St. Ignatius developed a daily examen of consciousness that he told his companions in the Society of Jesus was the one thing most important to do each day.

We have had a string of sunny warm days this fall. The weather has made it easy to work in the garden. I have been blessed with a wealth of knowledge and experience of Ignatius and Gandhi to build my presentation around. Outside and inside the conditions are there for me to work in the garden and work on my talk. What was lacking today was awareness. I knew what to do but kept myself busy with distractions.

Working in the garden clears my mind to work on projects like the conversation between Ignatius and Gandhi. Being aware leads to living alive.

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