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]

"My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations."  ~  Michael J. Fox

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When we get into touch with our own pain or the pain of others, meditation is not just a salve, it can provide the impetus to work for change." ~ Sharon Salzberg

[PartTimeBrewer]

"It is perhaps salutary to note that reported happiness does not rise with standards of living but only with standards or loving." ~ Naomi Ozaniec

[PartTimeBrewer]

"To open yourself up to need, longing, dependency, and reliance on others means opening yourself to the truth that none of us can do this on our own." —Barry Magid

[PartTimeBrewer]

"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work." - Mary Oliver

[PartTimeBrewer]

" I hope I never get tired of the night sky, of thunderstorms, of watching cream make galaxies in my coffee. I hope I never grow to be someone who can no longer see the small beautifu things." -- anon

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Mindfulness can be fun. Perhaps take a walk and intentionally smile at everyone you you see. Notice their reactions and how it makes you feel."  ~  The  Mindfulness Project

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Embrace the mess. We're all under construction."  ~  Tiny Buddah

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Some people could be given an entire field of roses and only see the thorns in it. Others could be given a single weed and only see the wildflower in it. Perception is a key component to gratitude. And gratitude a key component to joy." ~Amy Weatherly

[PartTimeBrewer]

"To remain stable is to refrain from trying to separate yourself from a pain because you know that you cannot. Running away from fear is fear, fighting pain is pain, trying to be brave is being scared."  ~  Alan Watts

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The compassionate response can only really arise when we tend to the pain. As long as we keep it at a distance, it’s hard for it to arise because it really comes out of the heart, and we don’t have access to the heart when we’re armored up."  ~  Mindfuo Online 

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Because of “experience-dependent neuroplasticity,” whatever you hold in attention has a special power to change your brain. Attention is like a combination spotlight and vacuum cleaner: it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into your brain – and yourself."  ~  Rick Hanson