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]

"Attitude is choice.

Happiness is choice.

Optimism is choice.

Kindness is choice.

Giving is choice.

Respect is choice.

Whatever choice you make makes you.

Choose wisely."

Roy T. Bennett

[PartTimeBrewer]

Meditation is concentrated mindfulness. Mindfulness serves to calm the mind. A calm mind is more susceptible to experiencing enlightenment. Enlightenment is overrated in the minds of many. It is not some ecstatic state of final bliss, but the calm awareness of all the beauty you are immersed in. The beauty is there, let it in.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Here's the problem. It's a 'Catch-22'. You can't force it with hard effort, you have to soften your focus and let it find you. It's like looking high and low for your spectacles when they are perched on your head. The old Zen metaphor is "Searching for an ox while riding on the back of an ox."

[PartTimeBrewer]

"People turn sullen over a trivial emotional matter and then attack the person later with an unrelated but logical -sounding excuse."  ~  Haemin Sunim

[PartTimeBrewer]

Yep, I do do that too often. And my wife is the master at it. We need to be aware.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Resentment is like drinking a poison and then hoping it will kill our enemies."  ~  Nelson Mandela

[PartTimeBrewer]

"If you're going to seek revenge, dig two graves."  ~  Chinese proverb

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Our minds wander off into all kinds of stories and fabrications and manufactured realities." ~  Pema Chodron

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The reality you experience is a reflection of what you believe.  ~  Buddhist proverb

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Pack your bags and go to the station without them. Catch the train and leave yourself behind."  ~ Wei Wu Wei

[PartTimeBrewer]

"We attach to investigated concepts that we believe to be true in the moment."  ~  Byron Katie

[PartTimeBrewer]

How often do we encounter a new idea and say to ourselves, "That sounds good." and then incorporate it into our cannon of self-evident truths without thinking through the full implications.