TBD on Ning
Mindfulness
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.
Views: 6047
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by PartTimeBrewer on
-
"Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But nothing should own you." ~ Ali ibn Abi Talib
-
-
-
Let go or be dragged.
-
-
-
"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness." ~ James Thurber
-
-
-
"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for your senses to grow sharper." ~ John Keats
-
-
-
"Some thoughts are worth acting on. Many are mental chatter that serve no purpose other than to make us feel fearful or sad." ~ Everyday Mindfulness
-
-
-
This is one of those aphorisms that expresses a reasonable message but leaves me frustrated because it provides no clue as to how to utilize it. Namely, "How can you differentiate the worthy thoughts from the pretenders?"
I believe that this us where meditation, or at least some degree of mindfulness comes into play. These are techniques that allow me to practice inspecting my thoughts when I can take time to consider them better instead of always reacting on the fly in a knee-jerk fashion.
-
-
-
"Thoughts make a good servant, but a poor master." ~ Jack Kornfield
-
-
-
"As soon as you make a thought, laugh at it." ~ Lau Tzu
-
-
-
Today I'm in a bit of an argumentative mood. Let's start with this. Just because a metaphor may sound poetic, that doesn't guarantee a deep truth. Look at: "A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms." ~ Sensei Ogui, Zen Shin
-
-
-
OK, a flower has no choice. It can't think. It can only be. The metaphor breaks down. We can think. The truth is that the flower is in a competition with the next flower, a competition to attract some insect to pollinate it. The more attractive it is to the pollinator, the more likely it is to leave an impact on the next generation.
What would the flower think if it could? Well it just might think of a way to get an edge. Or it might lose that edge by over thinking it. The problem isn't thinking instead of being. The problem is letting our thoughts tie us up and interfere with being. The more often you intentionally pay attention to your thoughts, the easier it is to grab the best ones and act, leaving the rest behind.
-
-
-
"You can love where you are, or make yourself miserable wishing you were someplace else. It's a choice" ~ Daily Zen
-
-
-
"Becoming awake involves seeing our confusion more clearly." ~ Chogyam Trungpa
-
© 2024 Created by Aggie.
Powered by
