Fallen off the wagon

Its not a bad thing to fall off every now and again as long as when you do its in the name of research rather than relapse.

The phrase “fallen off the wagon” is believed to have evolved from the late 19th century to describe a relapse into drinking alcohol after abstaining for some time. In that time there were water carts that would spray water on the dusty roads to keep the dust from becoming airborne. “im hoping on the cart” was a term used to suggest that the person was climbing up to drink only water from now on. 

The water cart can symbolise any upgrade in life, a big move towards a more sustainable, pure way of life.

When you first learn to meditate, a reservoir of nectar is found within. You climb on the “bliss cart” and begin sipping it up. Its a life changer. 

The new experience of riding this wagon is great and the idea of falling off it is ludicrous, however when you have been latched to the hose that is drip feeding you bliss for long enough it becomes normalised and we forget that its there.

Something about the old ways seems to entice us and before we know it “we’ve fallen off the wagon” to revel in the less sustainable activities. This can at first feel great as we are still running off the healing waters of the cart we’ve been on for months and the new/old program has yet to impact our upgraded state of wellbeing. Its inevitable that it will begin to fade and the experiences that motivated us to get on the cart to begin with will return and send us crawling back. 

Revisiting the old life, the one prior to hoping on the meditation wagon can offer some great insight. Its the research program we may have needed to draw an accurate conclusion. “Yes it is much better for me to stay on the wagon”.

The trick is to keep this research and the results handy so that we don’t have to keep doing the same research over and over and over. 

But if you are still convinced, even with research papers stacked as thick as a phone book, that you need more evidence to prove you’re on the ultimate program. Make sure that you at least become more effective and spend less time gathering the data. 

“Get straight back on the wagon”