Losing touch with the present
If you've been reading my blog, you might have noticed something — I mentioned awareness in every single article. We need awareness to be accountable, to build habits, to reach our goals, to stop complaining, to be creative, to let go of perfection, and more.
This topic is even more critical during our COVID-19 situation. I often feel like time is flying, but at the same time I don't feel like I am doing much. Do you feel the same? It's a weird feeling and most of my friends claim to feel the same way.
I believe it has to do with our minds being way too focused on the past — how did we get into this situation — and even more focused on the future — when will this mess end.
When our mind gets stuck in the past or daydreaming about the future something happens — we lose touch with the present.
What is mindfulness
Lately, a lot has been discussed about mindfulness. But what is it exactly?
Mindfulness is difficult to explain because we are trying to describe a mental state, which is too abstract to be put into words. It has to be felt.
A mental state is a psychological process. The closest process to the mindful state is what we would call the full attention state, a deliberate focus to be fully engaged on what we are doing or listening.
A full attention state is when we are completely and absolutely immersed in the present moment — without letting our minds be distracted by past events or future desires.
“People don’t realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.”, Eckhart Tolle.
Living in the automatic pilot
Have you ever felt like you are living in the automatic pilot? Mindfulness is the way out of it.
We wake up, we have breakfast, we go to work, we have lunch, we work again, we have dinner, we sleep, and then next day we do the same thing again, and again, and again. We feel like life is happening to us, and not for us.
We do things, for the sake of doing it, without being sure why we are doing what we are doing. This inattentive state is the automatic pilot.
It doesn't mean that we are not paying attention to anything, it simply means that we are not consciously or purposefully paying attention — our mind works in a random manner.
We catch ourselves thinking about random stuff, and we have no idea how these thoughts even got there.
The days go by, and we just react to things. Suddenly — when we realize — life is gone, and we suffered a lot more than necessary.
Increasing our chances to be happy
Every time we catch ourselves ruminating about the past or the future, we should gently bring our attention back to the present. We can focus on a task at hand, we can focus on our breathing, an object that is in front of us, it doesn't matter.
We will not be able to sustain our attention in the present for long, but as everything in life, it is a matter of practice.
Studies show that even if we are going through a hard phase, when we are living in the present, we tend to feel less anxious and suffer less.
Most of our anxiety is created when we are still attached to the past — about things we should have done — or thinking about the future — about things we have not yet achieved.
We are focused on things that we either can't change or can't control, and we pay a price for this. That's why raising our level of consciousness is a key factor in our daily happiness.
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”, Eckhart Tolle.
This is mindfulness. A tool to raise our awareness to focus on what is happening right here, right now. When we are present, we start to perceive how many things are happening around us and time seems to slow down.
Be present
Leaning to be mindful is a way to claim back our time. If you feel like you don't have time for anything, that you are busy but not productive, consider learning and practicing mindfulness.
We are happier when our minds are in the present. This means we have a source of happiness inside us with so much potential — and we rarely tap into it.
I am not suggesting we stay focused 100% of the time. This is not even possible for the monks who live their lives in meditation. A massive part of our days is spent in rumination, so any time that we get back is already a plus.
Being able to be attentive is not forcing ourselves to be attentive all the time. Being able to control our emotions is not forcing ourselves to be happy all the time. Being able, means having another tool in our happiness toolbox, which could help us feel more fulfilled as we go through life.
But how do we learn it, practice it, and create this mindful state? This is the topic for our next mindfulness article! Stay tuned!
