The things that drives us forward
We all hold on to certain goals in our life. On many occasions these goals are implicit or unconscious, causing us psychological imbalances. Mindfulness raises the possibility of being aware of the contents of the mind moment by moment. Its primary objective is self-awareness. The first requisite is the development of the capacity for concentration of the mind. If you think about it, almost everyone is always in a state of hurry, leaving no space for serenity nor relaxing. The rise of Buddhism in the West can be explained as a reaction to decrease the incredibly high speed of our societies.
Mindfulness can be defined as:
maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. | Source
is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you carefully observe your thoughts and feelings without judging them good or bad | Source
In other words, from a scientific perspective, we can say mindfulness is defined as a state, in which the person can permanently keep his/her focus on something specific, for a considerably long period of time.
The conscience of the present
Mindfulness is to keep the consciousness alive in the reality of the present, in order to do that we need to keep the focus on the present and be aware of the attitude with which we approach it. The simple exercise of focusing on the present is not always easy because we have to deal with our everlasting intruder thoughts and the deafening noise of everything that surround us.
I have notice that sometimes I am absent, because my mind is literally in another place, and even though letting our thoughts run wild is not necessarily bad and can actually be good sometimes, not appreciating and experiencing the present can set a bad precedent for our future. We do not want to be in sort of a “zombie” state like Adam Sandler from the Click movie.
The best attitude to embrace the present
The best example we can find of people fully experiencing their present children when they learn or discover things for the first time, or a beginner mind that is amazed when faced with new knowledge.
In certain way, it is sort of a philosophical orientation, that allows the possibility to be amazed.
An astonishment that requires us to decontaminate ourselves to contemplate the present as if we were adult travelers who arrived today on the surface of life. We need to keep our way of thinking 100% free and avoid being influenced by any external prejudices, because they are not true expressions of our actual personality.
The fear that oppress us
To accept our own personal essence, we need to maintain a proper level of focus and relaxation, to discover how our mind works, and the lies and tricks the mind use to deceive us from time to time, especially when we are facing a truth we don't like or don't enjoy. Fear confines us, makes us defensive when we are presented by something strange to us. Openness to novelty implies the acceptance of uncertainty: we are left without expectations. It is not about evading reality, it is about accepting it. When sadness is not accepted as another aspect of life, the very act of wanting to avoid it helps to increase it, if the law of attraction is true, then it works both ways, with positive and with negative things, therefore, the importance of training ourselves to always keep a positive mindset in our lives.
There are 2 types of wellness
First, the is the hedonic wellbeing, which consists on “notion that increased pleasure and decreased pain leads to happiness. Hedonic concepts are based on the notion of subjective wellbeing. Subjective well-being is a scientific term that is commonly used to denote the ‘happy or good life’” | Source
And then, there is the Eudaimonic wellbeing, that ”is strongly reliant on Maslow’s ideas of self actualisation and Roger’s concept of the fully functioning person and their subjective well being. Eudaimonic happiness is therefore based on the premise that people feel happy if they experience life purpose, challenges and growth” | Source
This distinction allows us to accentuate the quality that highlights mindfulness: equanimity. This means, being able to not let our attachment or our aversion go wild and without control. Equanimity leads to detachment, to not clinging to things, to let go. On the other hand, equanimity does not denote indifference or abandonment, since mindfulness implies a basic attitude of respect and even love towards all the people and towards things in general.
Conclusion
If you feel yourself rushing through live without actually appreciating it, perhaps you should slow down a little bit, and start to focus more on the present. There are always good things in our day to day life that with our proper attention, can make us a little bit happier and make us enjoy our life a little bit more.
But if we never open our eyes, by being always busy, we will never truly acknowledge all of the wonderful things that surrounds us. With a little bit of mindfulness, we can easily stop rushing and have a much better experience in our life. Sometimes going easy and take a good time to relax is the best thing we can do.
References
Happinnes and possitive psychology
greatergood – mindfulness definition
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