TBD

TBD on Ning

              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.

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"It is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head."  ~  Wallace

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."  ~  Steve Furtick

"Don't forget to unplug from time to time. This constant information stream is not our natural state."  ~  Daily Zen

Individual packets of information are mostly within the bounds of our stress reduction capacity but collectively they can overload the system. Give your synapses a break now and then.

"If you understand, things are as they are. If you don't understand, things are just as they are."  Zen Proverb

Sometimes knowing the cause or reason for everything is way overrated. It's fine if you do, but usually the world is way more complex than any mental model of it and trying to match reality with our expectations of it is just spinning wheels. Relax, go with the flow, be in the moment and trust your ability to respond appropriately on the fly.

"If you don't address your demons, they will go into the cellar of your soul and lift weights."  ~  Amanda Palmer

"You can't stop the triggering of unhappy memories, self-critical thoughts and judgemental ways of thinking - but you can stop what happens next. You can stop the spiral from feeding off itself and triggering the next cycle of negative thoughts."  ~  Mark Williams

Today marks a milestone for this column. It has been one full year, to the day, since I started this daily meditation. I never imagined that I had the discipline to maintain it this long. The hard part has been trying to avoid duplication. Oh, the themes have been duplicated, over and over. There's not that much to it. But I don't think I repeated quotes, at least not often.

I will go on, it has been cathartic for me. I will try to avoid duplication. But no guarantees.

A whole year. Wow. I enjoy these thoughts every day.

Thank you.

"To set up what you like against what you dislike, this is the disease of the mind."  ~  Zen Proverb

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