be more mindful

When I am mindful, I am blissful. Yessssssss!

I don’t really expect to ever check this off, but its a good reminder to be more mindful of a situation.

This incorporates everything from being more mindful about my mental, emotional and physical health to paying more attention to how I speak to others. Being mindful is about doing things in a more intentional way without carrying judgement one way or the other. That’s hard sometimes. I suppose the best way to look it at it is sort of like a job in and of itself. If you treat the way you look at yourself, life and others with the same detail that you treat your work (so that you don’t get fired) then it becomes more organized in it’s system. I believe that if you don’t take care of yourself and you just let the mind go wherever it wants that it can be damaging. Creativity, motivation, etc are good things and they come from letting the mind wander but we use discipline to reign ourselves in. Without that intentional guidance it leaves room for frantic decision making, too many closed-minded judgements and a lot of clutter.

I already lost my expensive umbrella. I can’t seem to remember how I forgot about it. Now I was close to losing my 2nd Swiss knives until I remembered it almost an hour later.

Next time I should be more focused and mindful.

I decided to move this into the I give up space. I have not really given up but I wanted to put in a goal which is easier to measure.

I’m trying. I try each minute of everyday. I’ve already seen some progress and noticed how my breath can fend off ugly distractions. I am blessed to have other mindful people in my life whom I look to for strength. I need to keep up my blogging, my yoga and my reading as to not let these goals become idle. I have made a conscious decision to not let distortion in my past affect my present and my future. With patience and calm awareness I will conquer my issues, fears and drop my baggage for good.

did some meditation. First day was good. This morning the cat jumped in my window about 10 mins in… insisted on sitting on my lap. Managed to go another 20 mins or so before getting annoyed.

I want to sign up for a MBSR class like this
http://www.livingmindfully.org/class/eight-week_meditation_class.php
or this
http://www.cgjunghouston.org/programs/summer/fine.htm

This goal has taken me by surprise. I didn’t think being more mindful meant being brave with respect to taking risks. Being more aware has made me more observant of the times I hold back in life and it has made me question it. So really, being mindful isn’t a means to an end. It’s a process that has opened many doors to me that I realized were shut inside myself. I was asleep, now I am feeling more awake… and life has presented such wonderful possibilities that I never thought could happen. All because I paid attention, and gave myself half the chance to change. Thanks to Eckhart Tolle…. for writing The Power of Now. Changed my perspective in so many ways, I owe much of my newfound happiness to his words.

A 2 cd set by Sri Eknath Easwaran has helped immensely… I highly recommend it!! He is an Eastern philosophy teacher who has spread his teachings all over the world. He is mainly known through word of mouth and has made no attempt to become famous or well known. He is simply respected for his wisdom and insight. He says many profound things and tells stories with a depth and clarity that many strive to achieve but can’t really come close. Easwaran does all of this without any agenda and maintains his sense of humor. His outlook on life and his “lightness” are a welcome blessing, endlessly inspiring. Worth a listen (or many!) Only $20 at Barnes and Noble – a steal compared to what others try to rip off, and twice as effective.