Really doing what you're doing.

Can you see the bees in the picture enjoying my lavender?

That is, really concentrating or focusing on the task you are doing at the moment. It is a gift we can give ourselves so we can reclaim our life rather than just living for our vacations or the other 'special' time when everything will be 'perfectly arranged' to bring on the those hoped-for feelings of inner peace and serenity.  Of course it hardly ever works out that way anyway...
what we have wondering around in our brain is just that a picture in our brain of the way things should be.

The challenge is to make calmness, inner balance, and clear seeing as part of our everyday life.  We have a tendency to slip into autopilot and do a task unconsciously, focusing on why we don't want to do it, procrastinate, and perhaps why shouldn't someone else do this? We let our minds wonder about here and there hoping to forget the dreaded task we are completing. But in learning to focus on what we are doing at the time gives the mind a rest, you actually start slowing the task down and seeing it for what it is.  A task and nothing more than that...its not something to be angry over, to think about having to do for hours before actually accomplishing it...its just that, a task.

We're all singing and painting the pirate ship - ahhh moments!

Keeping your mind focused is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do.  A brain naturally wants to wonder from one problem or idea to another but by continually acknowledging that your brain is thinking about something else and just pulling your thoughts back to the task at hand you learn to relax and focus on what you are doing.  You are re-training your brain to concentrate on specific moments in time.  There will never be a moment that your brain will not try to distract you, remember its human nature. So beating yourself up for wondering thoughts is a not an option, you just say I will think about that later and bring your thoughts back to the moment you are in. 

I have learned these techniques in a Mindful living class that I am taking.  Its hard to concentrate on the moment that you are in but once it starts to work you would not believe the calmness that happens inside.  Yes, I think about the other things I should be doing, tomorrow, the to-do list, chemo, cancer, my family, friends...the list goes on and on.  But when I make the decision that this is one of the moments I need to be fully present for, I grab those thoughts and put them on the shelf for later.  I does work...its hard, but it does work. 

When I first started learning this technique it was during the time in the mornings that I write in my journal.  It was shocking how many times I had to bring my mind back to what I was doing.  I was making lists on paper beside me afraid that I would forget the thing to buy or do if I didn't write it down.  Within a 15 minute time period of writing it felt like I was bringing my focus back to the paper a hundred times.  You really learn how scattered your thinking is when you are conscious of its activity.  What I used to think was a lack of 'normalness' was very normal after all.  Its OK for the brain to wonder but its up to us to keep in focused and enjoying the moment.  Yep I said it...enjoying. 

We've all heard its the moments that count so learning to enjoy them within a day gives you a sense of inner peace and contentment that life is good.  So try to taste the soup or sandwich your are eating for lunch, don't just wolf it down thinking about what you need to get done after lunch.  Listen to the sounds around you and look at the buzz of people or things whirling past.  Enjoy your moment...its YOURS to enjoy!

Have 'one' terrific day and 'lots' of terrific moments.  

signed one purple ladybug enjoying fully the moments within writing this blog.  ;-)