Mindfulness
In the age of smartphones,its very easy to find oneself distracted.There is always something to do on our phones,be it interacting on social media or taking pictures,so we barely put them down.Actually its like being distracted is an accepted norm in society nowadays,mostly sugar-coated as "multi-tasking". Our smartphones are always with us,whether one is taking a bath,cooking or doing a number in the toilet. It has even come to a point where doing a task without being on your phone at the same time feels kind of awkward.
We have become so accustomed to this habit of distraction that it has become a normal and accepted routine in our lives.We are always in a hurry to finish what we are currently doing so that we can do the next thing which we are still going to be in a hurry to finish,and so the cycle goes on. We seldom focus our entire energy on the one thing we are presently doing,finish it then move onto the next activity.This habit leads to absent mindedness,and absent mindedness means that you are not able to perform any task efficiently because your mind is somewhere else,another vicious cycle.
I have been reading The Miracle Of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh and it has taught me a significant lot about being mindful and attentive to the present reality. Have you ever wondered why,when you are doing something you enjoy,time seems to go by much faster than when you doing something you really hate?Obviously, its not because time will be moving literally slower,but just a matter of mindfulness. When you doing an activity you enjoy,you focus your mind on the fact that you enjoying that activity and not on the actual activity,so your brain becomes biased and does not fairly register the time relative to the activity you are doing.Because you are not mindful of the actual activity you doing,time seems to move faster as you are not mindful of what you are spending it on. If you were not looking at your watch during the duration of the activity,you even ask yourself "where did the time go?"Conversely,when you are doing something that you do not like,during the duration of that activity,your thoughts are focused solely on the movement of time and not on the actual activity hence times seem to move slower than usual.
Time in the form of minutes,hours and seconds is a human construct.This means you are only able to appreciate it when you are conscious of its existence and that is why you can take a nap,dream about traveling to every single country in the world and when you wake up,you find out that you have been napping for only a few minutes.So if you are paying mind to something,regardless of whether you are enjoying it or not,time will "move" because you are paying attention to the actual activity.Keeping your conscience alive to the present reality will not only make time "move" even during activities that you do not enjoy,it will also help you efficiently perform any task because you will actually be paying mind to it. Even if you are doing an activity that you enjoy,it helps to pay mind to it so that you avoid getting the sensation that time "flew by" because you can actually appreciate the movement of time relative to the activity.If we fail to live in the present,like it has become a norm in our generation,we are consequently sucked into the future and are not able to live a minute of life. Think about it this way,you are eating but your mind is focused on washing the dishes,so the time you spend eating was wasted thinking about washing dishes.You have failed to appreciate that moment that you were eating,the food you were eating,how they tasted etc.Literally every moment we spend above the earth is to be cherished and appreciated,and we failed dismally to do that because we spend those moments thinking about a future that is not even guaranteed.
In order to build up concentration in every activity that we do and hence be able to do it as efficiently as possible,mindfulness is key.And not only is mindfulness a key to performing activities efficiently,it is also key to actually living,and by living i am not talking about being just biologically alive,but actually living.Presence of mindfulness means presence of life in not only your body,but your mind and soul as well.Mindfulness frees us of forgetfulness and dispersion of thoughts which allows us to appreciate every moment we live because we will actually be aware that we are living that moment and be able to indulge ourselves.We cannot alter the past or predict the future but the present moment,that we have dominion over and with mindfulness,we are able to appreciate and live this present moment to the fullest.We must practice mindfulness even with our emotions,being aware of when we are happy or angry so as to prevent "i said those hurtful things in the heat of the moment" kind of situations.
When we are mindful,there is no disparity between doing something that's "boring" and doing something that's "entertaining" because in both instances,what you appreciate is not how the undertaking is making you feel,but being mindful of the fact that you are living and doing that activity.So if you doing any activity,put that phone down and actually live through that activity.Be it cooking or doing the dishes,let your mind register only that activity so it can appreciate and live it.Life is nothing but the NOW and you can still appreciate and live it even if you are doing something you hate during that moment.
PS:For more about living in the moment,checkout my You Do Not Exist and Contentedness posts.
We have become so accustomed to this habit of distraction that it has become a normal and accepted routine in our lives.We are always in a hurry to finish what we are currently doing so that we can do the next thing which we are still going to be in a hurry to finish,and so the cycle goes on. We seldom focus our entire energy on the one thing we are presently doing,finish it then move onto the next activity.This habit leads to absent mindedness,and absent mindedness means that you are not able to perform any task efficiently because your mind is somewhere else,another vicious cycle.
I have been reading The Miracle Of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh and it has taught me a significant lot about being mindful and attentive to the present reality. Have you ever wondered why,when you are doing something you enjoy,time seems to go by much faster than when you doing something you really hate?Obviously, its not because time will be moving literally slower,but just a matter of mindfulness. When you doing an activity you enjoy,you focus your mind on the fact that you enjoying that activity and not on the actual activity,so your brain becomes biased and does not fairly register the time relative to the activity you are doing.Because you are not mindful of the actual activity you doing,time seems to move faster as you are not mindful of what you are spending it on. If you were not looking at your watch during the duration of the activity,you even ask yourself "where did the time go?"Conversely,when you are doing something that you do not like,during the duration of that activity,your thoughts are focused solely on the movement of time and not on the actual activity hence times seem to move slower than usual.
Time in the form of minutes,hours and seconds is a human construct.This means you are only able to appreciate it when you are conscious of its existence and that is why you can take a nap,dream about traveling to every single country in the world and when you wake up,you find out that you have been napping for only a few minutes.So if you are paying mind to something,regardless of whether you are enjoying it or not,time will "move" because you are paying attention to the actual activity.Keeping your conscience alive to the present reality will not only make time "move" even during activities that you do not enjoy,it will also help you efficiently perform any task because you will actually be paying mind to it. Even if you are doing an activity that you enjoy,it helps to pay mind to it so that you avoid getting the sensation that time "flew by" because you can actually appreciate the movement of time relative to the activity.If we fail to live in the present,like it has become a norm in our generation,we are consequently sucked into the future and are not able to live a minute of life. Think about it this way,you are eating but your mind is focused on washing the dishes,so the time you spend eating was wasted thinking about washing dishes.You have failed to appreciate that moment that you were eating,the food you were eating,how they tasted etc.Literally every moment we spend above the earth is to be cherished and appreciated,and we failed dismally to do that because we spend those moments thinking about a future that is not even guaranteed.
In order to build up concentration in every activity that we do and hence be able to do it as efficiently as possible,mindfulness is key.And not only is mindfulness a key to performing activities efficiently,it is also key to actually living,and by living i am not talking about being just biologically alive,but actually living.Presence of mindfulness means presence of life in not only your body,but your mind and soul as well.Mindfulness frees us of forgetfulness and dispersion of thoughts which allows us to appreciate every moment we live because we will actually be aware that we are living that moment and be able to indulge ourselves.We cannot alter the past or predict the future but the present moment,that we have dominion over and with mindfulness,we are able to appreciate and live this present moment to the fullest.We must practice mindfulness even with our emotions,being aware of when we are happy or angry so as to prevent "i said those hurtful things in the heat of the moment" kind of situations.
When we are mindful,there is no disparity between doing something that's "boring" and doing something that's "entertaining" because in both instances,what you appreciate is not how the undertaking is making you feel,but being mindful of the fact that you are living and doing that activity.So if you doing any activity,put that phone down and actually live through that activity.Be it cooking or doing the dishes,let your mind register only that activity so it can appreciate and live it.Life is nothing but the NOW and you can still appreciate and live it even if you are doing something you hate during that moment.
PS:For more about living in the moment,checkout my You Do Not Exist and Contentedness posts.
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