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]

Again I missed an opportunity to correct a typo, in Armstrong's quote above she is referring to a "test", not a rest.

[PartTimeBrewer]

If it seems I've been a bit "preachy" lately, it's because I have been using Timber Hawkeye's "Buddhist Boot Camp" for inspiration. Today's meditation will be the last from that source and I will have to return to being original tomorrow.

Hawkeye closes his book by pointing out that much of the advice in it is easier said than done. It is definitely NOT the path of least resistance. But remember;

Intending Good is easy

Doing Good is harder

Suffering the consequences of not doing good is hardest of all.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"We can't cultivate relaxation and quiet minds by playing whack-a-mole with our thoughts and feelings. We do it by constantly exercising our natural ability to find and savor restful sensations lurking in the midst of unrest." ~  Daron Larson

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears."  ~  Lee Brown

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Happiness takes root when you stop saying, 'I'll be happy when..." and begin to think 'I'm happy now because...'."  ~  Danny Penman

[PartTimeBrewer]

"However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will it do if you do not act on them."  Buddhist proverb

[PartTimeBrewer]

"An ounce of practice is worth tons of preaching"  ~  Gandhi

[PartTimeBrewer]

"What you do speaks so loud that I can not hear what you say."  ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Westerly_2]

Hear, hear!

[PartTimeBrewer]

"You develop inner strength through embracing the totality of your experience, both the delightful parts and the difficult parts."  ~  Pema Chodron

[PartTimeBrewer]

We have all heard Nietzsche's quote, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." But it occurs to me that Chodron is making a stronger claim here. Strength is built, not just from our difficult challenges, but our delightful ones as well. In fact, she is suggesting something even bigger, the synthesis of all our experience, felt as a unity.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"You are the sky, everything else - it's just the weather."  ~  Pema Chodron