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]

"When you let something go, you open a space for better things to enter your life."  ~  Buddhist proverb

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they seek."  ~  Matsuo Basho

[PartTimeBrewer]

Many paths lead to ultimate realization; blaze your own.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Life is like an ever shifting kaleidoscope. A slight change and all patterns alter.."  ~  Sharon Salzberg

[PartTimeBrewer]

I want to become acutely aware of all I've taken for granted.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Today is the first full day that the world will go on without my niece and Goddaughter, who finally lost her lifelong struggle with Spina Bifida. May you find the Peace that escaped you in life.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Everything comes and goes. Cherish what is in your life while it is there. When things change, be grateful and let them change gracefully."  ~   Everyday Zen

[PartTimeBrewer]

"To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion."  ~  Albert Camus

[Westerly_2]

;^ ]  !

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The difference between happiness and inner peace? Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.  ~  Eckhart Tolle

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."  ~  Nelson Henderson

[PartTimeBrewer]

I'm not sure I would promote this sentiment to a "meaning of life" metaphor, but I would like to subscribe to it's long term "pay-it-forward" approach. Long term because it can not be dismissed as mutual "back scratching."