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]

"In the end, you may realize that mindfulness isn't about achieving a certain state of mind, but about meeting each experience in a warm, accepting way."
~ Shamash Alidina

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Gratitude opens your heart to joy."

~ Jack Kornfield

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together… all things connect." - Chief Seattle

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When we cultivate the practice of paying close attention to the way we talk to ourselves, we won’t fool ourselves too much." - Norman Fischer

[PartTimeBrewer]

“Life doesn't make sense. Stand around waiting for your life to make sense and you'll spend your life waiting on the sidelines."
~ Natalie Goldberg

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Feelings are messengers that are trying to tell us something, and if we could just give them a proper hearing by really feeling them, they’d soon be on their way.” ~Michael Eisen

[PartTimeBrewer]

"If we really understand that nothing lasts and that everything is unreal and illusory, then letting go is easy. Actually, it happens by itself without effort." - Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche

[PartTimeBrewer]

Whether this represents a deep truth or just a meaningless platitude depends on the meaning given to the verb "understand". At a first level. It means to know something intellectually. And at this level, letting go is NOT easy at all. This statement can only make sense if understanding can encompass a deep emotional rapport with the situation.. Understanding has to be felt more than known. I am still struggling with this.