I don’t meditate.
When I try, I get frustrated. I can’t calm the chatter in my mind. So I get irritated and end up feeling like I wasted my time.
Still, there’s a ton of research on mindfulness and how powerful it is.
So I went to a Mindfulness conference today.
We did a mini meditation.
I was horrible.
Halfway through the meditation, I figured out why I struggle.
I have a hard time letting my thoughts float by. When they show up, I want to focus on them—solve any problems they’re bringing to mind.
So I don’t know that I’ll ever get all that zen.
But a lot of aspects of Mindfulness involve practices I can definitely get behind. And some aspects of Mindfulness I already practice—and I believe they’re a big part of my own happiness.
Things like:
Gratitude—being thankful for what IS.
Meaning and connection to something bigger than ourselves.
Being here and NOW.
The presenter, Dr. Ronald D. Siegel, talked about a study which asked people to report how they were feeling at random times each day. The study found that when people were engaged and present—in whatever they happened to be doing—they reported feeling happy.
I like being present and I do think it’s related to my happiness.
I’ll share more of what I learned today in future posts.
Photo Below by Jack Finnigan @jackofallstreets via Unsplash
Comments