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]

*It is in vain that doctors prolong life if we spend the extra time being anxious to live still longer." ~ Alan Watts

[Jozee]

So true

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When you finally learn that a person’s behavior has more to do with their own internal struggle than you, you learn grace." ~Allison Aars

[PartTimeBrewer]

“Listen,
the heart-shackles are not, as you think,
death, illness, pain,
unrequited hope, not loneliness,

but lassitude, rue, vainglory, fear, anxiety,
selfishness.”

~ Mary Oliver

[PartTimeBrewer]

“I want to run wild and live life to the fullest, but I also want to be in bed by 9.” ~Violet Benson

[Jozee]

Lol!

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Everyone gets the same 24 hours. It’s not about being the best; it’s about finding meaning and feeling meaningful." ~ Daily Zen

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."  ~ unknown

[Jozee]

Yes!

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Today I learned about a term called a 'glimmer.’ The opposite of a trigger. Glimmers are those moments in your day that make you feel joy, happiness, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for glimmers, these tiny moments will appear more and more."

~ unknown

[Jozee]

I need to find the glimmer.

[PartTimeBrewer]

We tend to think of them only in association with our emotional "peak experiences" when they override our otherwise fractured mental state. However, it is possible to actively uncover a multitude of small "glimmers" in the form of miracles hidden in our everyday, mundane life. In short, "Stop and smell the roses." Awareness is the awakening to the realization that the sacred and the profane are a continuum, not a contradiction.