Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

              I am starting a new thread here mainly for purposes of my own catharsis. It is my intention, at least at this point, to make regular contributions. Of course, if anyone else has anything to add, they are more than welcome. If you have any input, please contribute.

              Over a year ago I decided to deal head-on with my self-diagnosed adult attention disorder, (ADD). The inability to stay focused was becoming too stressful. I found myself sitting around watching the clock tick, yet I couldn’t keep “on task” with any project I started. Nothing was getting done and just starting something was becoming depressing.

              The smart thing to do was probably to get professional help, so instead I decided to try to heal myself, at least as a first try. Cognitive therapy and pharmaceuticals (UGH) might be the approved way to go but I decided to try meditation first.

              18 months and countless self-help books later, I still can’t bring myself to a regular, formal meditation program. But, along the way, I discovered informal mindfulness. Yes, I know it is the “Fad” right now. It is hard to navigate modern social trends without “tripping over” somebody extolling the benefits of mindfulness.

              Let me add my voice to the chorus.

[PartTimeBrewer]

“Your attention is powerful. It determines the moment-to-moment experience of your life—what you perceive, feel, remember, think, and do.” ~ Unknown

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Notice the choices you make today. Are they made from habit, or from your current needs? Experiment with pausing before making decisions."  ~  The Mindfulness Project

[PartTimeBrewer]

Let it go. Change the channel. Turn it off. Unsubscribe. Unfriend. Unfollow. Mute. Block. Walk away. Breathe." ~@theminimalists

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When things aren't adding up in your life, begin subtracting. Life gets a lot simpler when you clear the clutter around you, and within you, that makes it complicated."  ~  Marc & Angel Chernoff

[PartTimeBrewer]

"who i am is always changing,
not because i am being fake
but because i am always open
to growth and transformation"
~ yung pueblo

[Jozee]

Love it!

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Instead of trying to think positively, accept that your mind will produce negative thoughts, which you don’t have to believe."  ~  Everyday Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

I'm currently working my way through a self-help book by Susan Jeffers, Embracing Uncertainty. On the whole, it has been helpful because I am currently conflicted by some major life changing decisions. But, I'm a bit at odds with the chapter on creating positive attitudes. She first proclaims the need to face the negative events, rather than bury them, and then proceeds with a series of exercises which effectively 'wall-paper' over the bad with the good. I'm not denying the power of a positive attitude, but if it comes at the expense of being blind to the negative, the cost is too high.

[PartTimeBrewer]

“I think mindfulness is often seen as something cute and cosy, warm, woo woo, and frivolous.

But it can also be brutal and challenging, and difficult and painful. It can hurt a lot. And this is where it is its most transformative and rewarding.” ~ Chris Brock

[Jozee]

Yes

[PartTimeBrewer]

"as it works for the individual, it also works for the collective of humanity - we can't heal what is ignored, nor can we live happily and freely if we keep running away from our own darkness." ~ yung pueblo

[PartTimeBrewer]

The  Buddha advocated a 'middle-road' path which is to say that we should be equally open to the darkness and the light. So in the spirit of 'mixed messages', I give you: 

"Wherever you are, somewhere around you, there is some little treasure for you to notice."  ~  Everyday Mindfulness

The trick is to be aware of it all, the light and the darkness The really, really hard part comes when they say "Accept it all without judgement". Otherwise there becomes attachment to the light and aversion to the dark, a formula for disappointment.

It is what it is.