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Mindfulness
Zainab Dhanani
8-11-2015
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This summer has turned out to be unexpectedly busy. As an educator, I’m used to having July and August to decompress from the fast-paced demands of the school year, but this year is different and I find myself rushing from one project’s deadline to another. The frantic pace reminds me of the value of time. A year holds an incredible 31,536,000 seconds and we all get the exact same amount – not in terms of lifespan, but in terms of units of time in our daily schedule. In fact, time is the only thing equally distributed among all living people. Each day, no matter how rich or poor, glamorous or drab, educated or illiterate you are, we all get the same time allotment. So why does it seem I never have enough?
In my pursuit of time-management, I stumbled upon the concept of mindfulness. I had always imagined it akin to new-age mediation or yoga—something I definitely didn’t want to devote my limited time to. But I’ve discovered mindfulness isn’t about doing more, rather, it’s an adjustment of one’s attitude and focus. It’s a way to quiet and calm the mind from the rambunctiousness of thoughts, feelings, judgments, and worries—the mental static we become accustomed to. Mindfulness is a conscious attempt to stop wasting time and energy ruminating over the past or daydreaming about the future. It means consciously living and concentrating on the here and now in all its glory. Mindfulness is being aware of yourself, others, and your surroundings moment by moment.
In “The Mindful Way through Anxiety,” authors Susan M. Orsillo and Lizabeth Roeme explain that mindfulness is a specific way of paying attention. It involves purposefully expanding your awareness to take in both what you are experiencing inside—your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations—and what is happening around you. It asks you to be conscious of the moment instead of going through the day on autopilot and letting your mind to skitter off in random directions.
Mindfulness invites bringing a gentle and honest curiosity to your experiences. It involves looking at familiar thoughts, people, and situations with a fresh perspective, as if you had never encountered them before and without judgment. It encourages you to acknowledge that experiencing a full range of thoughts and feelings, both comfortable and uncomfortable, is what defines us as human.
Life is so hurried that we often make snap decisions and judge something as good or bad, right or wrong, pleasant or unpleasant based on surface evidence and past situations. Mindfulness isn’t about glossing over the bad. Instead it’s being aware of the nuances of a particular situation so that you don’t get caught in the trap of repeating old habits automatically or rehashing deep-rooted hurts. Being aware of what you are thinking and feeling enables you to intentionally, gently, and lovingly choose to change attitudes and actions that are no longer appropriate or desired. Mindfulness helps you embrace responsibility.
A frantic mind will mechanically revert to habitual beliefs, feelings, and actions in order to hurry on to the next thing. We get carried away by our emotions and often end up entangled in situations we don’t want to be. A quiet mind is aware of alternatives and has the freedom to choose. A calm mind can return us to the moment and wake us up to what is really happening now. Mindfulness curtails knee-jerk overreactions and subsequent regret.
Aristotle mused that “we are what we repeatedly do.” What we think, say, and do today will influence what we think, say, and do tomorrow. It’s easy to develop habitual patterns of speech, behaviour, and thought without realizing it. Mindfulness helps us remember that everything we say and do has consequences. If you’ve ever caught yourself pleading “I didn’t mean it,” then you know you were functioning mindlessly.
This year, spend your 31.5 million seconds consciously. Learn to control the little voice inside your head that chatters incessantly. Notice all the details that surround you moment by moment. Be fully aware of the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and images that you experience. Build an attitude of openness and curiosity. Appreciate events “as they truly are” instead of “as what you know they mean” or “as you wish they were” or “what they should be.” Practice self-compassion by acknowledging that the feelings you have are part of being human and your actions are your choice. Accept what cannot be controlled and trust your life has an ultimate purpose. By changing your mindset, you’ll change your life.
Zainab Dhanani can be reached at z_dhanani@yahoo.ca
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