For those of us who were fortunate enough to make it to the annual GGG in Breckenridge this summer already had a quick (and I mean quick) crash course on mindfulness and mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness (and mindfulness meditation) was introduced to me by my mother several years back and has been a huge underpinning of my current state of sanity (though at times it may be in question for those who know me well) ever since. You can find mindfulness to be useful in so many situations in everyday life.
Life goes too fast, we are expected to do a zillion things a day, and not only do them all, but to do them all at once.
Laundry, work, phone calls, pick up the kids, pack a lunch, where are my keys, why did I just spill my coffee on my clothes on the way out of the door, OMG I'm out of gas and the meeting is 30 miles away in 22 minutes. . . I kid you not...this was my morning just today. I survived by looking in my rear view mirror and seeing the little smiles on the faces of my boys. My main reason in life, my driving purpose in life to find meaning in the moment- NOW- TODAY.
Does all of this sound familiar? Do you ever find yourself asleep by 11pm and then awake at 1am going over your to-do list. The list that can not be tended to until 9am when everything opens? It's impossible, but you actually go step by step through all that you have to do the next day as if this will help you tomorrow. It does not help, it only stresses you out and makes you tired tomorrow which in turn will make you grumpy. Chances are if you are grumpy then you'll miss all the wonderful things that happen all the time.
Greg Anderson writes in his chapter, "Mindfulness means finding the incredible in the commonplace." He teaches us in his chapter that the Law of Mindfulness asks us to discipline and train our minds to let go of worries or desires, returning to these concerns when the actual moment has come to do something about them. This I feel is the key to being "mindful", which in turn actually helps us to become less stressed in our everyday lives.
I was late today for my meeting, I enjoyed the drive this morning despite the pressure. I dropped my kids off to school, I showed up to the meeting with coffee stains on my shirt and a smile. It all went well! Imagine that!, imagine I could have done it differently and it might have just ruined my present moment. These moments are mine- I don't know how many moments I will have left and I certainly plan to enjoy all the ones I have to the fullest. I hope you will try too.
For Cuple
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Yesterday my beloved Grandmother Cuple Warren died. She was my stepmother's
mother and had been suffering for some time. Any prayers you could send my
st...
1 day ago
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8 comments:
Adrienne, well said, well said. I think you got to the crux of it all. The best thing I've ever read, and something you've reminded me many times about, is that "everything is okay right now." I've been calling the opposite of mindfulness "pre-worrying." But we can't live in the past or in the future (some of us live our lives in our ruminations--I guess that is the present, but not a good one), we can only live right now. And if we don't practice mindfulness, we'll miss those "precious, present moments", which for me, includes my daughters and my grandchildren. I think the act of mindfulness also spurs on gratitude, and you've been expressing that a lot. I don't know if it's the practice of mindfulness, or the gratitude you're feeling, but you have evolved into a serener (is that a word?) girl lately. So read on, harried readers. Adrienne knows this stuff by heart, and she's got her upbeat mood to prove it.
Hi Ma! Thanks for the input and compliments! It hasn't been easy, but once you do it enough the inner dialogue flows, and eventually you believe it yourself!
With the help of reading materials, and of course my mother I've come around :)
I owe most of my awareness of mindfullness to you. Lately, I've been saying that if I was a circus performer I'd be the one who spins plates on sticks. It's interesting to see which ones I let fall when I'm overwhelmed. I really need to slow down and realize I can't control everything.
Thank you for the great post and for the cool comment schneb99. I am mindfully appreciative of both of your presences in my life. :-)
Adrienne, I really enjoyed your post. Last night I was up worrying and worrying from 4am to almost 6. And, as I'm sure you can guess, none of my worst case scenarios came true!
I often focus on anything and everything BUT the fire in the fireplace, my full and nourished belly, the comfortable couch under my butt. Thanks to your post, I am enjoying just those things right now. I am mindful of them. Things really ain't as bad as I thought they might turn out to be when I laid awake last night!
Mindfulness makes me think of you, A. I'm glad you got this chapter. Thank you for your wise words!
D, I'm thankful for your presence also. I miss you. Yes, let some plates fall and then don't worry about it when it happens. I guess at this point be grateful you had plates to drop! I have to think like this all the time or I can get very over taken by my thoughts.
It takes time to learn to shift the thoughts from negative ones to ones of present moment. It's taken me years of consistent practice. Like I said, finally I'm getting the swing of it.
Casey, my girl! Please! If you lay awake from 4-6, at least indulge yourself in some good thoughts while doing it. A wise woman once told me that we can have our worst case scenarios, but we also have to open our minds to the best case scenario because it has a 50% chance also. I choose to believe the best case these days and it feels so much better.
I miss all of you GG's. So happy we have this blog to connect to one another and inspire each other!
ok, I needed this one. Loved your post, Adrienne ... but I really love what you just wrote in your response to Casey: why not indulge in the best case scenario? I'm becoming a big believer that you often manifest your thoughts, so indulging in the best case just makes good sense!!
xox
A, that was a beautiful, inspiring post for sure. It's amazing how such a basic idea is sometimes so hard to hold onto and make part of one's outlook. But you've proven by consistently returning to that frame of thought makes it easier to adopt into one's overall attitude. It brings to mind Eric Idle singing..."Always look on the bright side of life" (sing it with me!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo
I'm with A, Dominique. Drop a few of those plates, and just have a good time.
Is there such a thing a "mindful ruminations"? Just asking. But I love A's comment (and she's had to relate that idea to me a few times now) that you have to consider the good possibilities too. Hard to do for us pessimists, but I'm trying to learn.
Casey, any way we can get this on facebook or a vehicle like that so we can see when we post? There is just a treasure trove of support here. It would be great to have nudges when people post.
Deb
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