Mindfulness is living in the present with full awareness, and not clinging to the past or grasping for the future. It is about being able to discern what is helpful or harmful in the moment without being judgmental or avoiding the situation.
It’s all about training our brains to work for us to achieve what we desire and need.
We all encounter stressful situations where we may end up saying things we don’t mean, or we say things we mean that don’t help anything. We fight with co-workers when a deadline is pushed up, and we feel like we’ve been doing most of the work. Then we go home and get into a fight with our roommate who again forgot to wash their dishes. Then we finally get to go out with our friends, but we are too exhausted and angry to have a good time. This sounds normal, but it doesn’t have to be.
The mindfulness revolution is not quite as dramatic as the moon shot or the civil rights movement, but I believe, in the long run, it can have just as great an impact. – Tim Ryan
Here are 3 ways mindfulness can keep us sane and make us happier.
- It helps us reduce suffering.
Going back to the example above, we don’t have to take our stress with us going into a new situation. Yes. The day was bad and you got into a fight at work and at home, but now you are out with friends. This is supposed to be a fun time, so be present in the moment. Ruminating and sulking do not solve the fights or make them go away. All you are doing is missing all the fun stuff happening around you now. You could be increasing your happiness, instead of making your day worse.
2. Increase control of your mind.
Stopping yourself from fixating on a negative event is not an easy task. We are training our brains, but as we get mentally stronger, we will only reap the benefits. Instead of saying something we didn’t mean in a fight, we could have the idea to instead ask everyone to take a minute to cool off. Just having the realization that we are about to say something that will just make the situation worse is a huge plus. We can prevent ourselves from….more suffering!
3. Experience reality as it is.
How easy is it to exaggerate things? It’s very easy! We all do it. We fall into the drama of… “This is the worst day ever!”
Work sucked. You’re stressed about the new deadline, and you have to work late. You come home after hours of fighting at work only to have to lecture your roommate about his incessant messy habits! AHHH! Now you are late to meet your friends! Worst day ever!…but was it?
Today, you also got to hang out with your friends. Today you had a job. Today, you had a home to come home to. I’m not saying undermine the bad things that did happen. You don’t have to turn everything into a positive. I’m just saying, there are positives.
Life is not black and white, and knowing that can give us more peace. It can put us in a more thankful mood, or help us from spiraling down. Experiencing life how it really is can also help us to change things. Maybe it’s time to get a new roommate because this suffering we can avoid.
Thanks for reading guys! More on mindfulness coming soon. If you are interested in learning about mindfulness, I actually learned about it through DBT. Take a look at this workbook if you are interested. It helps build a lot of skills.
