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]

Well, it's been a full month that I have been expressing this theme here. Two things surprise me. First I am still just as committed to the project as ever. Usually I drift from one area of interest to the next, it must be working for me. Second, nobody has told me to shut up and get a life.

I want to thank those people who have been kind enough to hear me out and contribute their own perspectives, especially Angharad, who turned me on to the power of Haiku to capture the mindfulness experience.

[Angharad]

Thank you for the kind mention, PTB. I'm grateful to you for adding so much to the Haiku group--you and Lip Service have infused it with new life and beauty.

And thanks for this mindfulness discussion. I enjoy contributing, and I'm enriched by your posts.

[PartTimeBrewer]

By breaking down our sense of self-importance, all we lose is a parasite that has long infected our minds. What we gain in return is freedom, openness of mind, spontaneity, simplicity, altruism: all qualities inherent in happiness."  -  Mathieu Ricard

[PartTimeBrewer]

But setting the ego aside Is so, so hard. Thinking of it as a parasite helps, but wait, mindfulness is supposed to be non-judgemental. Here is that paradox again. Yet I know from experience, while I need self-confidence, making it all about me, me, me is a dead end.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"...yet I also glimpse the bottomless chasm of fear I would inhabit if I lived by the rules of 'what If'."  -  Christina Feldman

[PartTimeBrewer]

"It is a pity that the words 'spiritual life' were ever invented, for they have caused so much confusion. For in truth, there is only life - everyday life - which is simply, what is, at every moment."  -  Robert Powell

[PartTimeBrewer]

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Anger shows us precisely where we are stuck, where our limits are, where we cling to beliefs and fears."  -  Jack Kornfield

[PartTimeBrewer]

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Confront the difficult while it is still easy."  -  Tao Te Ching, chapter 63

[PartTimeBrewer]

1. An application of this is the saying "If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won't have to hear it scream." The same might be said of our painful thoughts and emotions.