Does this sound familiar?
“This is taking forever… Can she be any slower? At this pace, I won’t be making lunch but dinner…”, you say to yourself while you take a big sigh and start impatiently tapping your foot on the gray floor of the grocery store.
You are in line at the register, and there are 4 people in front of you. But judging by the waiting time, it seems like there are 40. “Dinner… I forgot to tell Luke that I’m free for movie night on Friday. I have to text him… I have nothing to wear…”.
You switch the basket with your lunch ingredients from one hand to another and then decide to put it on the floor. “Why haven’t I done this sooner? This thing is really heavy… Wait, have I done the laundry?… I have to wash that new shirt… Do I look fat in that shirt? Dang, I forgot the chocolate…”.
Line moves and you are one step closer to your end goal – the register. “What time is it?”, you ask yourself while reaching for the phone in your pocket again. “It’s only been 2 minutes!? It seems like hours…”.
Awareness Shifts Your Perspective
Right before another wave of sarcastic thoughts arises, that little subtle nudge inside of you reminds you to shift your awareness to the present moment.
In an instant, you become aware of the noise in your head and all the buzzing thoughts. In one moment you detach from them, become an observer and return to yourself, to your body, to the now.
And just like that, everything changes. It’s like you can see more clearly, hear more intensely, feel more deeply. You become fully present.
You become aware of the lemons in your basket and their bright yellow skin. You notice the beeping sound coming from the barcode scanner at the register. You detect the scent of perfume coming from the person in front of you.
Without any effort, your whole perspective on this experience called “Waiting in line” shifts from annoying and boring to ‘just as it is’. You just wait in line without any story about it. And just like that, it’s not terrible at all.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
Eckhart Tolle
Commit to the Present Moment
That is what happens when you choose to prioritize the present moment over your thoughts. When you stop and change your narrative no matter the thought, “good” or “bad”. When you stop being reactive to what is happening and rise above it.
Those little returns to the now moment throughout your day develop a mindfulness practice. By doing that, you train yourself to be more aware, more conscious, more present. But you have to commit to it, only then you can start to live mindfully.
That is something that will develop over time, like any other skill.
Mindfulness Doesn’t Mean Inaction but Not Acting From Your Ego
At first, you will have little glimpses of awareness here and there, but with commitment, time and practice, this will become your new way of living, your new way of being.
Your thoughts will not disappear, “negative” or “positive” ones, but you will no longer associate yourself with them nor take them for granted. You will be able to pause and question them or welcome them without any resistance and attachment. Or decide not to let them in and choose different kind of thoughts, more empowering ones.
With practice and time, they will not appear as much, and you will be more and more able to witness them, to be at peace with them and fully aware that you are not your thoughts nor your emotions.
Challenges, problems, and issues will not disappear as well, and life will continue to happen, to have its ebbs and flows. But you will stop perceiving them as challenges, problems, and issues and stop identifying with them.
You will start to accept things as they come and let them go as they pass. You will gain a new perspective on life and its flow, as well as gain new insides and solutions for your situations.
Mindfulness doesn’t mean inaction but not acting from your ego.
Awareness Brings Understanding and Change
When we have a problem, we tend to go round and round in our mind to find a solution for it. But you can never reach that depth of clarity with your rational mind as you can by surrendering to the now moment. Through that surrender, you will find solutions more profound than anything your mind could think of.
When you’re present, you can choose differently. But even if you’re not present within your actions but become aware of them afterward, you can mindfully learn from the experience. You can illuminate the pattern of behavior and change it.
Awareness can bring understanding, and understanding can help us bring change. Next time you will able to change the way you handle the situation.
Mindfulness offers that opportunity.
Have No Expectations
By kindly and openly accepting what is, without resistance, without running from it, you are creating the space for it to change into something that is best suited for you.
Very often, that could be very different then what you’ve expected it to be. But whatever it is and however it looks like, with mindfulness, you will again welcome it as is, lovingly, kindly and openly.
Have no expectations with your mindfulness practice and its results but be open to everything. Let yourself experience all of it.
Be present and aware of your experiences as they come and just let them unfold, let them be what they are.
