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Dear students of The Mindful Path, Let’s start this recap off with a short story… The Man Who Always Waited to Be Happy There once was a boy who always worried about what he would do with his life and how he would make a living. There simply wasn’t time in his life to be happy. All he had time to do was plan for the future. He would tell himself, “I’ll be happy once I get a career and start making money. Then I will be happy.” He worked very hard indeed until he established himself in a good career where he was respected by many. But he wasn’t happy. He was too busy thinking about all the things he didn’t have. So he told himself, “I’ll be happy once I have a family.” And so it went on: He got married. He had kids. He had enough money to put them through school. He had grandkids…and so on. But there was always something. And in the end, he died having had a wonderful life—yet he never took the time to appreciate it. I don’t know about you, but when I read this story, it inspires me to live my life more today than yesterday or tomorrow. To enjoy the company I’m with and appreciate all the little things. The thing is, we can only achieve that when we pay attention, not to the future, or the past, but to the very moment we’re in. Here are a few key highlights from our discussion about paying attention: Mindfulness isn’t about doing more, it’s the art of non-doing, and with that, we better our chances of paying attention to this moment when we are ALIVE Beginner’s mind is the attitude of doing something or experiencing something as if for the first time. When we have done something many times we tend to start doing it on autopilot (i.e. eating). Beginner’s mind allows us to see everything we do with fresh eyes, because while the action or behavior may seem familiar, this will be the first and only time you ever get to do it in this very moment Thinking is a naturally occurring thing, especially during a formal mindfulness practice (meditation). In fact, our minds have a habit of wandering off. Negative thoughts are sticky and build up like snowballs. Bringing ourselves back to the present allows us to avoid over-identifying with thoughts, which are just that, thoughts, and let them go rather than stay for dinner :) Mindfulness only works if we work it—practice makes progress—consistent practice allows us to show up and pay attention more throughout our everyday lives
Actions for the week: You can download a PDF of the session slides as well as rewatch a recording of the session here. Please don’t forget to use our resources page to your advantage as you embark on this journey, and email us if you have any questions as you continue along. We look forward to seeing you again next week for Session 3: Taming the Animal Mind. Good luck this week! “Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.” —Winnie the Pooh
With so much love and gratitude, Ryan & Jason Benz
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