MINDFULNESS FOR THE NEW YEAR

The more I learn about mindfulness the more it seems to be a new(ish) word for some very old concepts.  Living with awareness of the world around us.  Doing one thing at a time and doing it the best we can. Focusing on the present rather than what's over and done. Or yet to come.  Paying attention.  Judging less. Tossing mental baggage. Seeking out the quiet soul. . . . None of these is a new idea.  Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) says,

 Forever is composed of nows 

Yes.  We agree. But how often do we remember it?

I suppose the opposite of mindfulness would be mindlessness.  When we act out of old habits.  Or don't know what day it is.  Or work at such speed we are like high-functioning zombies. Or scroll through our mail while a friend or child is waiting for a little companionship. Zone out. Hasn't this happened to us all?

Writer Ann Lamott (b. 1954) says, 

Almost anything will work better if you unplug it for a few moments. . . including you. 

So what can we do to work better this year? I've found a bunch of ideas that all sort of fit under the rubric of mindfulness.  Most are from experts in their fields.  They seem helpful. See what you think.

• Recognize the myth of multitasking.  A way to over-stress, increase errors and reduce productivity.  Who knew? That slowing down is not lazy but smart. I love it!

• Acknowledge that our brains adapt to behaviors we repeat, positive or negative.  So choose positive behaviors to repeat. Many of my negative behaviors involve thoughts. I'm going to work on this. If a thought takes me nowhere I'm going to try my best to let it wither. 

• Rejoice in ordinary things.  Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron (b. 1936) says,

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. 

 

Oh my. This is most certainly true.  Art and music, exercise, reading and writing,         gardening and cooking, observing people and nature. All these are ordinary things.  We say a lady bug is good luck because we rejoice in ordinary things.  We love finding a caterpillar.  Or a four-leaf clover. Or seeing a falling star. The list of ordinary things that makes us happy goes on and on doesn't it?  

• Encourage conversations at a depth we will find interesting.  I saw this suggestion in a magazine called Mindfulness Made Simple.  Focus and draw one another out. Lean in to a conversation.  Ask why or how.   Know that every person is worth our attention. 

• Try to enjoy what we do.  At work enjoy supporting our colleagues, helping others, being intellectually or physically challenged.  At home think of house and yard work as exercise, enjoy feeding or eating with our families, giving and receiving love, feathering our nest, or just being ourselves.

•  Acknowledge limits:  cultural norms, money, age, health, talents or time.  Then decide what to do about them.  American activist and academic Angela Davis (b. 1944), an advocate for the homeless, the unemployed, and the mentally ill says:  

I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change...I'm changing the things I cannot accept. 

 

I like this idea, trying within our means to help change the unacceptable. There is so much of it today.  

This is enough of a beginning for me, these six challenges. Are they new or old for you?  I think the point is to do more of what works for us and less of what doesn't.  In 2018 to find or repeat what works for us, that we enjoy or that educates us, kindles our curiosity or helps us understand the world better, makes us finer people or helps others.  This is good.  

Van Gogh