Trump is messing with my meditations
But the idea of Trump being re-elected keeps me in the future, frantic with worry. For those people—on both sides of the political aisle—who haven’t been listening to the bone-chilling statements the former president and his toadies have been spewing on the campaign trail lately, may I suggest that
O P I N I O N
I’ve been trying to meditate and slow down some of the stresses in my life, particularly during the holiday season.
But other than a yoga course that I took as an undergraduate for a physical education credit, I’ve had no formal instruction on how to meditate.
My wife, however, is a certified yoga instructor and has used me as a guinea pig from time to time in her training, and I have been practicing yoga videos at home for a number of years, so I think I get the jist of it.
After all, the goal of yoga is meditation.
When meditating, I’m trying to stay focused on the present, to keep my thoughts from drifting to the past or the future, where worry and anger and regret fill my head. Meditation is supposed to keep me in the moment.
I’m supposed to be Zen, baby.
However, every time I try to clear my mind of intrusive thoughts, and slow my breathing by taking deep breaths and using my diaphragm, Donald Trump then jumps into my head.
One second, I’m on the brink of achieving nothingness, and the next thing I know, there is a plump and puffy orange face with a puckered mouth that opens and begins bloviating about whatever crazed, half-baked topic sparked its indignation that day.
And it’s back to square one.
But the idea of Trump being re-elected keeps me in the future, frantic with worry. For those people—on both sides of the political aisle—who haven’t been listening to the bone-chilling statements the former president and his toadies have been spewing on the campaign trail lately, may I suggest that you start.
For example, at a Fox News town hall special on Dec. 4, Trump told host Sean Hannity that he would be a “dictator” on Day 1 if re-elected. But just for one day, according to Trump. He then repeated this claim at a dinner for New York Young Republicans Club in New York City later that week.
Apparently, being Dictator for a Day is similar to being “Queen for a Day,” only it threatens to collapse 250 years of democracy with one deft swipe.
Yes, I realize that the line between funny and frightening is often obfuscated by the former president, and that he was trying to tongue-bathe his base by saying he would use his executive powers to “drill, drill, drill” and build a border wall, but given Trump’s track record, this is enough to scare anyone out of the present.
I’m not sure if Trump is just a tone-deaf, hate-fueled narcissist spewing these things for shock-value, or if there’s a seedling of truth in these aspirations. The Washington Post recently reported that his supporters have been cheering his “dictator” comments, so regardless of the cause, you can be sure Trump will stick by his words, as long as people notice him.
Donald J. Trump is the opposite of Zen, so I suppose it makes sense that he’d take great pleasure in disrupting my meditations.
Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, hold your breath—there’s Donald Trump, and it really sucked when he was president in the past, and he could be re-elected as president in the future!
Aaaaargghhhhhh!
Try it again. Take a deep breath.
