So what is mindfulness? Everybody uses this term, but do we really know what it means? A mindful person is someone who lives in the present while calmly accepting their feelings and thoughts, and uses them as a therapeutic technique.
Living in a state of mindfulness is not something you can achieve overnight. It’s not a magic trick that you can perform and transform your entire life in just a second. It’s a journey of self-discovery that might take one year or fifty years. It doesn’t matter; all the matters is the process. This is how you live in the present.
You Are Not Your Thoughts
A few years ago when I was practicing mindfulness, I’ve received a powerful insight. While I was meditating I had a powerful vision. I saw my whole life revealed in front of my eyes. I understood that time is nothing more than an illusion. We like to think about the past and the future as something that has an influence over us. But that’s totally false. “Live in the present!” is what everybody tells us.
But how?
Just forget about everything that has happened until this moment and focus only on what you are doing NOW. Feel good about yourself while doing it. Only then you will understand that your thoughts do not define you. They are only passing mental phenomena. Try doing the following exercise: Find yourself the perfect position, relax, and just watch your thoughts. Don’t hang on to them, just let them fly.
You Stop Stressing for the Small Stuff
We are constantly stressing about unimportant stuff. Our child draws on the wall and we are almost having a heart attack. We care so much about every insignificant detail that we forget to look at the bigger picture. We are draining our energy on nonsensical stuff without even thinking. We are programmed from birth to react like this.
It’s not our fault that we are like this, but it is our duty to change and embrace our true reality. Let me tell you a little secret. Everything that happens in our life is something good that is meant to point us in the right direction. We are always growing, so embrace each moment as something that brings you new growing opportunities.
You Appreciate Things More
Paying attention to all the details that surround us can be done only if we manage to maintain a calm and relaxed state of mind. We are always in a rush, but why? We always feel like there is something more to be done or that we haven’t done enough.
Have you ever tried watching a tree grow? What kind of question is this? Who would have time to do something like that? You see, here is the problem. We think that we don’t have time, but time is an illusion. Beauty is everywhere, watch it, feel it and embrace it. When there is beauty inside, there is beauty outside.
You Understand and Develop Compassion
Some say that awareness and compassion is the same thing. That might be true. Being aware of the present moment will make you much more attentive to the world around you. When we are living in the moment, we are more in tune with other people experiences. We start to understand that everything is connected and that we are all one single organism. So, we help other people, not because we have to, but because we understand that their pain is our pain.
You Learn the Art of Acceptance
We are spending most of our days fighting the present moment, instead of accepting it completely. We are spending time judging every event that’s happening to us, rather than figuring out a way of using it to expand our perception. Living in a state of mindfulness gives you the opportunity to accept everything that’s around you. You understand that every living being is a part of you, and hurting them will mean hurting yourself.
Acceptance means that you do not resist anything; you embrace it and transform it. Going against the tide will not do any good to you. Because if you manage to understand that you are everything and everyone, you will also understand that you can’t fight yourself.
Conclusion
Living in the moment is your true nature, and everything else is just an illusion. The past and the future are only illusive constructs made especially to restrain your mind from growing. We live like this since our birth. It’s time to wake up and see the world for what it is. Everything that moves and breaths is a part of us, and our duty, as intelligent beings, is to cherish and protect it.
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