In order to keep track of meditation, exercise, service, and anguish, I use marbles. I have a bowl with select colors (for example, white means meditation). When I sit for 10 minutes, I transfer one white marble from the bowl to my little daily cup. Other marbles go in there as well... such that at the end of the day I have a collection of marbles that I can easily use to fill out my chart.
Anguish sounds terrible, I know. But this is a way for me to recognize that life (and meditation) is not about getting what I want. It is about accepting what is actually happening and tolerating any pain that arises. Paradoxically, life is much better when I do that.
For service, I am using blue marbles. It is one marble per act of service, no matter the length of time it takes. Recently I've had some revelations. Service isn't just offering free and donation yoga to the community. It is also driving my micro-car, which amuses many people. And it is also practicing my instrument with the band, which is (ultimately) a community service. I'm still not clear how much caring for my son counts as service because I had a big part of bringing him into this world... and I don't know if that action is a service (to the world). Yet that gets me into questions of whether any service is of value, if humanity is not. So I just leave that topic alone.
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