Two things tend to hold us back. Worrying about how things will turn out in the future before the future’s happened and unconsciously thinking about the past and this is where being mindful helps.
Mindfulness is something I use. It’s the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment without distractions and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness is now being examined scientifically and has been found to be a key element in happiness and improves our well-being and physical health.
Mindful observations and mindful breathing, helps relieve stress, anxiety, lowers blood pressure, improves sleep, and helps reduce depression. Thoughts come and go, but being mindful allows us to choose to act on those thoughts.
Scientific trials have shown that when we use this technique our memory improves, our mental and physical stamina increases and reaction times to making decisions become faster. It also helps with mental acumen as well.
Being mindful also helps us catch any negative thought patterns before they take a hold and control our thinking.
I think a lot about the future, especially now that my mom is near death.
My father passed away almost 10 years ago, so when mom is gone I'll be the adult and that bothered me for a while, but I'm becoming used to it.
I try to focus on the present as my mom always told me to quit thinking of the future and worrying about the past. What is done is done and what will be will be.
So now I focus my thoughts on the present mostly, but I still have occasional good memories of the past and think of ways to make the future better by working on the present.
It's the best way Lisa. It's easy for us to dwell and bring back scenarios that aren't in the present. The hard part long term is being able to stay in the present.
Your mum was right. What's done is done, and although what will be will be, we still have an element of control over that one.
I don't really understand this 'mindfulness' to be honest but if it works for you then that's great.
I tend to be too busy to think abut anything else other what I need to at that time and I am more of a problem solver than a thinker.
Yes thank you, it does. The irony is that to be able to solve problems we have to think about the problem we're trying to solve.
Being mindful just helps us concentrate on what's going on at the time without getting side tracked with other thoughts.
Being mindful is just training the mind to think only in its present form. I am sure you can do it.