There are so many questions like that.
You are either all in or you are not.
You will do it now or never.
You are either living or waiting to live.
To answer any of these questions, you need to be mindful. It is a concept I have been thinking a lot about. I find the word and the concept fascinating. It is more than meditation. It is the concept of purposely paying attention without judgment in the present moment. It isn’t just awareness. It is more than that and it is supposed to help with stress and managing emotions. It is living in the moment fully aware of what is happening. In my opinion, it is about really living.
How many of us really live? We say that we do. We claim to be living in the here and now but when the world is silent our minds travel to the past and the future. Maybe we think of missed opportunities, lost loves, future loves, or even the dreaded “someday.” So many of us are consumed, maybe even debilitated, by emotions or in some cases afraid of them. We love too strongly or not at all or maybe too freely. We struggle with cycles of extreme happiness and depression. We are incapacitated by anxiety. We succumb to sadness with tears of unknown origin. What ever your affliction, mindfulness can help you steer your focus away from the extremes to a more moderate center. I am not saying that emotions are bad or should be avoided, I am just saying they sometimes need to be mitigated.
In all things, there is balance. Or at least we should strive for balance. It is not an easy task and it requires practice. If we all spent more time reigning ourselves in before we went off the deep end, maybe we would have better friendships, maybe we would have longer lasting relationships, maybe we would be happier, cause less pain, and be more aware humans.
Maybe we would all be more real and honest, more focused and less confused. What if we could change our world for the better by starting with ourselves? It is worth a shot, isn’t it?
Live Unfolded 