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]

Full Disclosure: Sometimes I am guilty of over thinking it in an unnecessary attempt to ferret out unexamined assumptions. This can lead to an inability to act when need be.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"My constant daily question is, "What is the best thing I can do now, in this situation, given these circumstances?"  Much is provided, now what is required of me?"  ~  Lama Surya Das

[PartTimeBrewer]

One of the meditation 'memes' I keep encountering goes something like this, " If you feel like you don't have 30 minutes in your day to meditate, then you should meditate for 60 minutes." Sometimes a longer time is suggested, sometimes less, but you get the idea. I have never copied this one here in this column because I have always felt it fell into the category of an obvious truth for which I had no strength to accommodate.

But today is the day for this platitude to shine. I slept poorly, last night, anticipating an unpleasant task today. When I finally arose, I had no mood for my normal routine of physical and meditative exercises. Looking for an excuse to skip them and baby my ego, I remembered this saying and realised the best way to calm my mind was to stay the normal course, and do it even more mindfully. 

As is the usual case, the anticipation was far worse than the event.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"In the past, I have repeated the negative and destructive patterns of my life, not because of lack of will or lack of desire to change, but merely because I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM."  ~  Jake Kessler

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When we suffer, notice that our suffering is often made of thoughts. As our inner commentary ceases, notice that the suffering stops too."  ~  Haemin Sunim

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"Like a sand castle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it. And when the time comes, let it go."  ~  Jack Kornfield

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"Life gets easier when you realize that you don't have to deal with more than one moment at a time."  ~  Everyday Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The dark thoughts, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door, laughing, and invite them in."  ~  Rumi

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Once we are willing to be directly intimate with our life as it arises, joy emerges out of the simplest of life experiences."  ~  Roshi Pat Enkyp O'Hara

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Proper effort is not the effort to make something particular happen. It is the effort to be aware and awake each moment."  ~  Ajahn Chah

[PartTimeBrewer]

"It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us and we lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists."  ~  Eckhart Tolle

[PartTimeBrewer]

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