Trying to remember my mindfulness

Recently, I realized it’s been over a year since my 10-day silent meditationretreat. There have been little reminders popping up in my everyday life that have been nudging me to remember the things I learned during this 10 days. I have forgotten so much. It’s so easy to slip back into the everyday routine. The things I learned and the uplifting feelings seem to fade like remnants of a dream.

I’ve been feeling downs more often than normal. I’ve been dwelling in the past too long. I’ve been worrying about what-ifs that may never happen in the future. I’ve forgotten how important it is to try and stay in the present; To enjoy what’s going on around me now. My attachments to the past and the future have been growing stronger, and today, the universe reminded me to be more mindful of my present.

So today, I have set a goal. When I find myself disappearing into the past and bathing in things I cannot change, I will pull myself back. When I find myself lost in worry about possibilities of the future, I will bring myself back and try to enjoy a moment that is happening presently.

Things I can enjoy in the present:

• The way the sun hits things and brightens how everything looks
• The feel of my dog’s fur as I pet him
• The taste of a chocolate chip cookie dancing across my tongue
• The smell of a favourite flower or scented candle
• The feel of a refreshing, hot shower
• The feeling as you drift off to sleep
• A good stretch
• A good book
• A good hug

I need to literally pull myself back on track… it won’t simply happen on its own. Being in the present: I’m out of practice. And you know what they say, practice makes perfect!

Too positive?

Recently, certain commentary has been recurring that has spurred me to wonder – but not for long 😉

In the past 3 or 4 months, I’ve had a good amount of people comment on how happy and positive I am. There’s been a lot of good stuff happening in my life, mostly self-development, that has drastically changed my attitude, and how I look at things or approach situations. Since this change, I’ve also had a good sized sample of people (friends, acquaintances, strangers) offer me a whole different set of comments that I wasn’t expecting.

While I have enjoyed the comments from people appreciating my positive spin on bad situations, and my generally cheery nature – I have been puzzled by the following comments (and others, this is an abridged list):

1. You are too happy
2. Why are you so positive all the time?
3. Can you please stop being so cheerful?
4. Must you always find the glass half-full?
5. Don’t you ever get upset or sad anymore?

For a while, I let these comments and questions percolate. I wondered about them, and about myself. I pondered the changes in my life and my overall outlook, and took the time to check myself against this particular line of questioning. And I have come up with answers for all of these.

1. I am not too happy, I am exactly the right amount of happy 🙂
2. I am positive, because I have learned that there is good in everyone and everything… somewhere. Sometimes you have to look harder. Sometimes you just have to sit back and laugh at an insane situation. But what it all boils down to is that it’s easy to be positive when you don’t take things personally, and you keep your mind open to things.
3. No. I refuse. Being cheerful is fun! And generally speaking, I think that people prefer to be around cheerful people rather than grouchy ones.
4. It’s not imperative for me to see the glass half-full all the time, it’s just the way I happen to see it first. Sometimes my instincts have me seeing the half-empty scenario first, but it doesn’t take long for the positivity to swoop in. It’s all about perspective, and knowing how to properly prioritize how bad a certain situation is – or could possibly be 😉
5. Yes. I do get sad. I do get upset. Particularly around that time of the month (let’s be honest, the hormones do rage). Things do upset me, but it’s so much easier for me to take a step back and have some perspective. I do get angered or impassioned about certain things, but I have begun to take my time and approach things with an educated stance, rather than simply setting things on fire and stamping my feet. BUT these instances of sadness and upset and anger are fewer and further between each day.

There have been other questions and comments about my happiness and positivity, but these 5 pretty much encapsulate the main themes of what I have been questioned about. It’s really easy to find happiness, to live it, to breathe it, to bask in it. And I’ll be honest, it all started about 18 months ago, when I Googled “How to be happy.”  I didn’t gain much from that search, but simply wanting it was the first step on my current (fantastic) path.

So get happy! Be happy! Find the glass half-full! Stop expecting the worst! Stop assuming that people are out to get you!

Life is good – and only you can make it that way 🙂

Tuesday: the new Monday

Greetings and salutations! I missed yesterday due to a holiday… But I’m back with more scintillating content. Wait, I’m pretty sure only two people actually read this. Oh well – HELLO, HAPPY READERS!

The good thing about a long weekend is that it is long. You have a little extra time to do the things you wanted to do. You scratch a few more things off the old “to-do” list, or get in a little more relaxation than you’d usually have… But the terrible thing about a long weekend is that  come Tuesday (the new Monday), you have now been treated to not two but three days of slacking off – which I find to be the perfect amount of time to leave you really wanting more. It’s like that extra little taste of freedom drives you batty on a Tuesday (Monday) morning.  I find it extra difficult to drag myself out of bed after a long weekend, regardless of how much or little enjoyment/adventure/rest I encountered during said long weekend.

I have decided that ‘half-full’ is the theme for the day. Seeing as it feels like Monday but it’s Tuesday – I feel that I should be jumping on the wagon of positivity, leaning over into the wind and waving my hat at everyone as I’m whizzing by! Because Monday is GONE GONE GONE – and tomorrow is the middle of the week already! So ‘half-full’… THAT and “Anything can happen.”  Today’s words are UP, POSITIVITY, and HALF FULL (ok, I know that’s two words).

Seeing the other side of the coin (or attempting to fill that glass up!) is difficult sometimes. You gotta quit comparing and competing. Stop worrying about what Bob over there is doing, and worry about only you. It becomes a little easier to be positive within and about yourself when nobody else is interfering. Who cares what Bob thinks of that shirt you are wearing. Do you like it? Do you feel comfortable in it? Yes? Then you  look spectacular! No? Then take it off and put one on that doesn’t chafe you! That’s all that matters! Because there are far too many people in this world to worry about pleasing others. It’s enough to drive you NUTTY! But we (I) still do it – more of the infamous training we receive from DAY 1.

I SHUN YOU TRAINING! I am on a new training schedule.

On a random note – I always imagine the glass (half full!) to contain milk. Don’t ask me why… that’s just how my brain works. What’s in your glass when you imagine it?

54

Someone once told me – you get what you give. The longer I’m on this planet, the more I realize it’s true. I don’t mean that literally, because if I give someone a chocolate bar, I don’t expect a chocolate bar to fall in my lap in the near future…  However, I find that it does apply in the grand scheme of things.

Emit positivity, positivity will surround you. Give compassion, people will be compassionate to you. Get angry, and other people will get even ANGRIER! Laugh, and you will find people around you smiling. Need I go on?

Tthe key is to make sure you’re not always giving to people who are taking, or those who don’t appreciate or give back to anyone else. I personally find this difficult, as I tend to help, give, and love a lot more than I ‘should’ apparently. But in terms of the big picture, I think this just means that I’m going to get some pretty good stuff in return – eventually 😉

And I’m willing to wait.

Even when you’re having a grouchy day, try to get out of that funk. Use whatever resources you have at hand to distract yourself out of that mood. Talk to friends, mindlessly watch Youtube videos, read… do something out of the ordinary! All you need is to *SNAP* out of it 🙂 And get the good vibrations flowing. If you’re negative – who is going to want to hang out with you anyway? If you’re miserable, no one really wants to join in the ‘fun.’ Friends and family might try to help you out of your funk, but only to see you happy again – not because they enjoy hanging out with you when you’re down in the dumps. So grab hold of the hands, the tools, the distractions that are being offered, and clamber up out of the bog of negativity.

I have reason to believe that it will pay off in the end 🙂