In today's short contemplation we will be thinking about the attitudes or the pillars of mindfulness and asking ourselves if there are ways to introduce more of these into our lives and examining where we are deficient in them.
Close your eyes if you wish and allow the mind to drift and be open to whatever comes.
Trust.
Do I trust others?
Do I trust myself?
Do I trust in a higher power or the universe?
If I have a lack of trust,
Does this cause me problems in my everyday life?
Non-judging.
Am I constantly making judgments of every person or situation when I don't know the full context?
Do I categorize and label everything as good or bad?
How does this affect my life?
Non-striving.
Am I always striving for more?
A better job,
Car,
House,
Money,
Body?
Is it ever good enough?
Will it ever be good enough?
How does this affect my relationships?
Letting go.
Do I cling onto hurts,
Offenses,
Painful memories?
Do I choose to do this?
Do I cling to ideas of what I think is right?
How does this play out in my life?
Acceptance.
Do I have an idea of how I think things should be?
Am I attached to these ideas?
What happens when things don't go how I think they should?
When people don't behave in the way I think they should?
Am I constantly fighting the way things are right now?
What does that mean for me?
Beginner's mind.
Do I look at my life with jaded eyes?
Do I see things and people in my life with gratitude?
Do I savor things I can experience with my senses?
Food I can taste,
Flowers I can smell,
A loved one I can touch or see,
Nature I can hear?
Or do I live most of my life on autopilot and don't really experience my life?
What does that mean for me?
Patience.
Do I wish my hours and days away,
Wishing it was the weekend,
Wanting it to end the day,
Wanting things to change?
Am I waiting for the pandemic to end before I can start to live?
What does that mean I miss out on now?
Is it possible for me to trust more,
To choose to trust others,
Myself,
The universe,
To trust that there is good out there?
Is it possible to realize I don't know the whole context,
So it wouldn't be right for me to make a judgment about a situation or another person?
Could I decide that this,
Whatever this is,
Is neither good nor bad,
Pleasant nor unpleasant.
It just is.
Can I accept whatever is right now without striving for more or for to change things?
Can I be content right now if nothing ever changed?
Could I let go of bad feelings,
Of my ideals,
Of my desire for particular outcomes,
Of my attachments?
Could I accept what is?
Can I lay down the weapons of fight and accept this might be the way it's supposed to be?
Can I look with fresh eyes at my life?
Can I become more mindful of each of my precious moments and not let my life slide by without fully experiencing it?
Can I be patient and not become so stressed when things don't happen in the time frame I want?
Can I accept life on life's terms and not on mine?
Can I?
Can you?
Thank you.
