Last Friday I slipped on ice, hit my head on a stone stair, and got a concussion. It affected my thought process quite a lot. I was tired, had splitting headaches, and had trouble comprehending and speaking words. Until yesterday I felt strange, not like myself, like something was off. I am ok, and am now recovering, but with my brain working on healing itself, I have not had much capacity for complex thought or "strenuous mental activity".This experience led me to think a lot about shoulds. The things I feel I should be doing, the life or career milestones I should have reached by now, the project I should start, or the project I should finish. Shoulds come from our survival needs and fears, our societal and cultural messages, the voices of our well meaning friends and families, and our own self talk.

Our shoulds are often tied closely with our self worth. And so, in today's meditation, we listen to our shoulds with compassion.This podcast is made possible with great thanks to our subscribers on Patreon. Join our community at Patreon (dot) com (slash) theMeditationPodcast