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]

"Managing your attention is more effective than managing your time."  ~  Everyday Mindfulness

[Baia]

Today I am contemplating mindfulness while traveling.  

At times, it is tempting to experience the moment from behind the lens of my camera.  I find that I miss too much that way.  Although I am grateful for the few memorable shots that "connect" for me, I would rather have fewer photos and more memories.  Sometimes the memories are the stories that are shared with me along the way.  Less often, they are the photos.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Good observation! I have a hard drive full of pictures I rarely look at. Not to mention boxes of old prints. Why am I saving all this past while I am promoting being in the present?

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Just sit, breathe and pay attention to what it's like to be you.

Nothing to add. Nothing to take away. Nothing to fix, or change or do.

Just you - sitting, breathing, paying attention.

You are welcome here. Here you belong. Here you are enough.

Breathe...

[Aggie]

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
- Eleanor Roosevelt

[PartTimeBrewer]

"To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat."  ~  Shunryu Suzuki

[Aggie]

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible
- George Burns

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Emotions are real, but they are not facts. We can interpret them in many ways."  Life is rich that way.

[Aggie]

I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention."  ~  Sharon Salzberg

[Aggie]

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.
- Billy Crystal

[PartTimeBrewer]

"You may say, 'I must do something this afternoon,' but actually there is no 'this afternoon.' We do things one after the other. That is all."  ~  Shunryu Suzuki