Practicing mindfulness

Mindfulness provides many benefits like greater focus, higher productivity, less stress and more happiness among others. Practicing mindfulness, that is, staying in the present is a lot like exercising self-control; avoiding thinking about that finance class when you are in a mathematics class, or enjoying dinner with your friends instead of thinking about that work call that you have to return later.

I have been thinking a lot about mindfulness lately but I have been too lazy to implement them in my life. I have been reading many articles and it just bothers me that the curiosity that I have for the issue prevents me from exercising willpower to stick to my schedule. I had finals last week and I was doing the final review, and I just wanted to focus on that. I was trying to leave the writing for after the exams but I think my passion for writing just does not let me be.

“One of the most effective ways to distract ourselves from a tempting pleasure we don’t want to indulge is by focusing on another pleasure.” (Source)

Some days I was able to distract myself from avoiding to write about something, by reading about something else, but I often ended up doing the thing I was trying to distract myself from; writing about the issue that I was thinking.

Today, I have been thinking about delaying gratification. I am very impatient as a person. I want everything NOW. Here in China, I have seen many children roll on the floor, crying, screaming and not budging until they get what they want from their parents. My brain is a lot like that child; it is going to use all its neurons and roll on those until I am so irritated that I find myself giving in to the temptation.  My mind has been all over the place and I have been itching to write.

Why is it that it is only when I have exams and assignments that I am inspired and motivated to write? Anyway, this period also enabled me to observe which times of the day I am creative, and when I have the most energy.

Yesterday was a day of cleaning and decluttering, while also thinking about myself, what goals I want to achieve, how I want to achieve them. Today I am trying to be more mindful of whatever I do; walk slowly to watch the cars pass by, stop at the bridge to look at the ripples in the canal water, feel the cold wind on my cheeks. To be honest, I have not posted anything about my new year’s resolutions simply because I already had some from last year. I am still working on them and I believe in being quiet about my goals and resolutions. Talking or writing about them make me feel as if I have already accomplished them and they thus do not make me want to work on them anymore.

I am also editing a story which I had written last year and which I hadn’t wanted to share but I just might do that next week. The fictional story was carved out of a simple thought that I had and this simple thought made me write a story which is not necessarily a reflection of me. One of my friends who read it told me it has similarities to the movie inception but the thing is that I have never watched it!

Follow me to know more about the story!

 

 

 

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