Awareness

     Having made a decision to avoid as much negativity as possible, I have discovered that scrolling through Facebook does not take nearly as long as before.  It also means avoiding most of what is in the daily newspaper.

     This does not mean I do not care about what is going on in the world.  It's already happened and there is not a thing I can do about it. Dwelling on it and holding images of atrocities in my head all day does not do me one ounce of good.  Avoiding these things does mean I will not be very savvy at carrying on a conversation about current events, but that's OK with me.  I think there are more important things going on and I still don't get the deflated football thing.

     I am following a series of exercises though.  Not the physical kind, but the mindful kind.  The purpose of these are to find one's true self.  Not the self I see in the mirror each day, but the one that lives deep inside.  

     The exercises are quite simple, almost too simple when first starting out, and I would like to share one. 

     For today, or longer if you choose to do so, pay attention to where your thoughts are.  Are they in the past, present or future? This only need be done a few times a day and only for a minute or two.  The purpose is to show where you spend most of your mind time.  

     I thought this seemed simple enough until I realized that I do not stay focused in the present more than about 30 seconds.  Before I know it, I'm either way back in the past or giving some fret to what lies in the future.  I did not realized how much of the 'now' I'm missing.  Spending all that time in the past, a place that really does not exist because it's done, gone, over with, suddenly seems like such a waste.  And the future, well, it really doesn't exist either....does it?

     So, go ahead, give it a try.  Pay attention to your thoughts and see where you are spending your 'now' moment.