I recently came across the “flow mindfulness workbook” and one article got my immediate attention, it was about “a busy head” (written by Otje van der Lelij). Going deeper into why we do take everything that we have in our mind so seriously.
Do you find yourself imagining the worst case scenario, a situation where you encounter embarrassment, anger, sadness? Do you worry before you even started? Well, you are in good company, a lot of us do that, me included! But as the writer puts it:
“Thoughts are just thoughts and not a reflection of the truth. […] Often, we are sunk so deeply in thought that we forget to be present in the now.”
Thinking and escaping into our mind is good, if we manage to not go into the wrong direction, to not allow our thoughts to drag us down; but instead manage to catch them before we go down that path. And Mindfulness brings awareness to this thought process. We become aware of our thoughts, the behaviour and emotions that may result out of them. And by being aware, we are able to act on those thoughts, to not let our mind go into that direction.
“You can’t influence which thoughts you have, but you can decide what to do with them.” (Brandsma). And a friend put it so spot on during a recent Skype call when we spoke about my concerns and worries; “anxiety comes from focusing on the future, stay focused on the present!”
Well, those are thoughts I will take with me and try to focus on. Time to put Mindfulness into another area of my life now, too. Time to be aware of hindering thoughts, to be present especially now, when I start venturing out into new fields.
How about you, can you relate or are you already at that stage?
Have a lovely day,
stay present,
AK
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