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]

"Our beliefs are so powerful that they color our entire world. We literally see what we believe, but we can - and most of us do - fail to take responsibility for what we see, especially what we see within."  ~  Hugh Prather

[PartTimeBrewer]

[PartTimeBrewer]

Normally, I am not a fan of Deepak Chopra, and I might have rephrased this one myself, but I couldn't pass on the graphic.

[PartTimeBrewer]

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Letting go is not giving up."  ~  Mingyur Rinpoche

"Let's not confuse acceptance with passivity."  ~  Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

[PartTimeBrewer]

I may have to change course, but it's not an excuse to sulk in idle. It's easier to see when to do this and where to redirect myself when I am paying attention to my thoughts and feelings, rather than running on autopilot.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The moment one gives a close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world unto itself."  ~  Henry Miller

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Do not argue with reality. You can not win."  ~  #mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

Ah, but of course there's a catch. The hidden assumption here is that we can always clearly identify reality. It has been pointed out that "our perception is our reality" and our perceptions are not only vastly incomplete, but colored by our own desires and beliefs. How do I know if I am arguing with reality or my "strawman" model of reality? Let me suggest the first step would be to be mindful aware of as many perceptual inputs as possible and secondly to seek out and reevaluate our biases. Ultimately, it may be necessary to turn the above quote on its head and allow our concept of reality to be informed by which arguments we win and which we lose.

[PartTimeBrewer]

As I have suggested in the recent past, we tend to operate our lives under the influence of unexamined beliefs and biases. The DWI metaphor is intentional. We think these biases are OK, but they can impair us as surely as alcohol does a motorist.

"A belief that leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition."  ~  Jose Bergamin

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time.  It is, rather, born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life."  ~ Eric Hoffer

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Hecato says, 'Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.'..."  ~  Seneca, Moral Letters, 5.7b.    Seneca goes on to say, "The primary cause of both these ills is that instead of adapting ourselves to present circumstances we send out thoughts too far ahead."