Mindfulness, Mindlessness and Minding My Own Business
Mindfulness, Mindlessness and Minding My Own Business
I had the wonderful experience of recently attending a mindfulness workshop. It was such a great reminder to be aware of only what’s going on within me. This means accepting the errors of the past, releasing the anxiety about the future and being free from judging others and myself in the present.
It was also great to be a participant on the receiving end of such great training. All I had to do was relax and receive.
We did a mindfulness exercise before break and the facilitator encouraged us to be aware of our experiences during the break. I had brought an apple and orange with me and decided it’d be a good time to indulge in these tasty natural goodies.
I closed my eyes and was present with each bite. Wow!
It was like I had never tasted an apple and orange SO sweet!
Practicing mindfulness is being mindful: Being present with the present moment, being aware of what’s going on within me and around me, and having no judgments about any of it.
And in those sweet moments of mindfulness, all is well, peaceful and calm. The breath fills the lungs and then is released. Thoughts and emotions are bountiful and I only observe. No good thoughts, no bad thoughts, no good emotions or bad. Everything just IS.
This workshop was a gentle reminder about how mindfulness helps me increase my awareness to create simple habits, like full-lung breathing, so I may live my life more consciously.
One of my “not-so-great” habits is that of mindlessness. A quick Google search for definitions of mindlessness included:
- Acting without justification or concern for the consequences
- Not thinking of or concerned about
- Performed automatically without thought or skill
Yes; that’d be me. There are times when act without thinking. I engage the almighty mouth before giving the even mightier brain an opportunity to intervene.
I stick my infamous foot in my ever so overactive mouth.
Yuck! Yuck for me and for the people around me.
I’ve had to make many amends and offer many humbling apologies over the years, because of my momentary (and that’s all it takes) lack of mindfulness. I have acted before I gave myself a chance to think.
I’ll never be finished with my growth and improvement. I am, and always will be, improving. Today I look for progress, not perfection. I hope you do too.
So where does “minding my own business” fit into this? It means that your business is none of my business. In other words, there is NO value in me assessing or judging you, your intentions or your behaviors (and hopefully you’ll do the same for me).
When people get into other people’s business when it’s none of their business, relationships can get very messy and convoluted.
Practicing mindfulness and practicing less mindlessness is more than enough for my mind to be responsible for.
I will do my best to mind my own business and not make your business, my business. However, if you call me about your business and want me to make your business part of my business, then I will be as mindful as I can about your business.
Okay?
How is your mindfulness practice is going? I’d love to hear from you.
For more resources about mindfulness click here. I’m a big fan of Jon Kabat-Zinn and I think you’ll like him too.
Marry YourSelf First is another great resource (of course)!
Ken Donaldson
Mindfulness, Mindlessness and Minding My Own Business…
Oh yeah!