Submitted by Irene Javors, LMHC

“There are many ways to discuss ego, but in essence… … it is the experience of never being present. There is a deep seated tendency, it’s almost a compulsion, to distract ourselves, even when we’re not feeling uncomfortable. Everybody feels a little bit of an itch all the time. There’s a background hum of edginess, boredom, restlessness.”

From Taking The Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chodron. 2009. Shambhala. p.17

How well I know these feelings! I am in the middle of something and then my monkey mind takes me somewhere else, making shopping lists or going over all the things I haven’t done or I just zone out. Remembering that where you are is exactly where you need to be – such an easy thought, so difficult to live.