Archive for Mindfulness
Mindfulness And Mysteries
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FollowWe love mysteries.
We enjoy using our minds to gather clues and solve problems of all kinds. Whether it’s the latest crime show on television, a news story, your company’s top-secret product launch, or where you left your glasses, you are captivated by questions that have significance for you.
In fact, we can learn a great deal by becoming mindful of the types of mysteries that fire up our brains. By using multiple intelligences theory as a framework, we can create greater awareness of the areas that naturally appeal to us as playgrounds for mindfulness.
Lessons From Dynamic English
Posted by: | CommentsBack in 1983, I was hired to teach English in rural northern Japan. I had no experience teaching, and didn’t speak a work of Japanese.
No matter—I had the requisite four-year college degree and a thirst for adventure.
My employer/boss/teaching partner was Grif Frost, a 27-year-old budding entrepreneur who had married the Japanese exchange student who had once lived with his family. He ended up living near his wife’s parents in Mutsu, and did what any self-respecting
English-speaking person did in Japan in 1982—he started an English school.
Big Wave Of Mindfulness
Posted by: | CommentsSurfing is mindfulness in action. Riding the biggest waves is an all-out, fully-present-or-die-trying proposition.
Thanks to a persistent case of aquaphobia, I’ve never tried surfing. However, I’ve done my share of snowboarding, and I am trying to imagine what it would be like to carve the slopes with several tons of avalanche chasing me down the mountain.
First of all, I would have to hike to the top and wait to catch the biggest avalanche, getting pummeled by several in the process. Oh, and then try not to think too much about the abominable snowman poised to take a hunk out of my leg when I least expect it.
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
Posted by: | CommentsLately, I’ve become super sensitive to the amount of excuses people make for not living up to their fullest potential.
I have a friend who is starting out on a new venture. He constantly complains that his new venture is not going the way he wants it to go. But, whenever I give him a suggestion to get around whatever he believes to be an obstacle, he ALWAYS has an excuse as to why my suggestion won’t work.
Do I Have To Read It?
Posted by: | CommentsOften when I run across a good novel, or even after I’ve written an interesting piece, myself; I’ll offer the stories or summaries to my teenagers Usually, their first response is, “Do I have to read it?” And many times, I will reply, “No, you don’t have to read it, but I bet you’ll find it interesting.”
While time has evolved, kids and adults alike, are less inclined to check into local libraries for literary enjoyment. As a stark awakening, I find that most children eagerly seek other forms of entertainment in the forms of multimedia such as video games, cable television, film and yes – the Internet, too. While movies, TV, and the Worldwide Web are phenomenal means of artistic and informational conveyance, they do not adequately serve the human imagination.
Mastering the Art of Small Talk
Posted by: | CommentsHow’s the weather there?
We use small talk to connect with others in a casual way, and by becoming more mindful of the way we interact with those we don’t know well, we can learn a lot about our confidence level, sense of privacy, and attachment to our own opinions.
Small talk isn’t a replacement for deeper relationships—it’s the first step toward building them. We start by being fully present and talking about what is right there in front of us—the weather, your client’s new car, your neighbor’s flowers, the pictures on the walls in the interviewer’s office.
A Belly Of Mindfulness
Posted by: | CommentsTaco Bell, the Mexican fast-food franchise, has a new ad campaign focusing on the slogan, “Get full.” The commercials show people ecstatically announcing that they are full–thanks, of course, to the huge value meals now available at Taco Bell.
We know that feeling full isn’t simply a matter of building a bigger, better burrito. There’s a whole lotta emptiness going on, and it’s not always filled by what we put into our bellies.
The search for connection, for meaning, for love–these are longings not met by the bags we pick up at the drive-thru window. To feel full in the truest sense, we must figure out what we are lacking in our lives. We’re not always mindful of this quest.
Mind, in Time and Space
Posted by: | CommentsOne cannot make a decision in the moment of now. All decisions are made from the past, and then you work in the past to recreate a future that has already passed based on that decision.
If it is true that we are creating ourselves and the circumstances of our existence, then were does that existence or experience take place, in the past, present or future?
The brain is only a processor and a very slow one at that. The brain processes information received by the five senses of smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight. By the time the brain has processed the information received by the bodily sensors and made a judgement about the information, the information is old news and so is its reaction.
Elements Of Change
Posted by: | CommentsThe key to achieving more than you currently are, no matter which area of your life or work you are focusing in on now, is change. The old saying rings true: If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve already got. If you keep eating and exercising the way you currently are, you will weigh the same a year from now. If you continue to sell to the same people on the same schedule, you will make the same amount of money next year.
In order to move forward, we must change.
Tripping On Mindfulness
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the ironies of mindfulness is that it’s still possible to be forgetful, klutzy, or even distracted while doing our best to pay attention.
Why? We are choosing where to focus and so there are, by necessity, bits of information that aren’t getting the full laser treatment. It’s simply not possible to be mindful of everything all at once.
That’s the beauty of it.
You can shine your mental high beams on, say, fully connecting with every person you talk to today. While being very aware of your interactions with others, you might trip on the edge of the carpet.
