Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of the ‘Stress Reduction Clinic’ and among other fantastic things, defines mindfulness with 9 different attitudes: Non-judging, Acceptance, Patience, Beginner’s Mind, Trust, Non-striving, Letting go, Gratitude, and Generosity.
For several years, I have seen countless YouTube videos about how important it is to practice gratitude in the mornings. I don’t think I ever understood it until yesterday, at least by saying or writing the things that I was grateful for the most. My lovely and energetic dog, Apollo, escaped my house yesterday. More context is missing but for the sake of your time–it’ll be a story for another day. I ran after him and was able to bring him back home safely but I unfortunately broke my toe since I was running barefoot.
For about an hour after the incident, I was angry at everything. Apollo for escaping our home (for the first time). Angry at my neighbor for watching this all happen and (at the time I thought) did nothing. Angry at the person that decided to ring my doorbell in the first place! And ultimately angry at myself for letting this happen and getting hurt in the process.
Every night at about 9 or 10 pm, I write in my notebook. I write about anything I want. What I did that day. My ruminating thoughts. Sometimes I try to figure out why work (my job) is the way it is. I was exhausted from the afternoon I had chasing my dog, trying to decipher if my toe is broken or if I tore a ligament, how was I going to get to work the next day or try to get my foot X-rayed. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve written in my journal, good days and bad. I wasn’t about to let today’s day stop me either. I decided to write everything I could about what I was grateful for that day, even if my toe was throbbing in pain.
“I am grateful for Apollo not getting hurt today when he ran out.”
That was my first thought. I am so lucky Apollo did not get hit by a car as he ran across the street. There are a few people in our neighborhood that don’t leash their dogs or don’t like other dogs and are violent. Knowing that our situation could have ended in so many worse ways, this was at the top of my list. He also is such a sweet dog to everyone that he wouldn’t bite anyone or even another dog unless you are on our property 🙂
“I am grateful that I did not step in glass or anything that would cut my feet open.”
You might be thinking… She broke her toe! She DID get hurt! Oh, certainly, but in my mind, having a flesh wound and running around on pavement, dirt, and who knows what else, I’m lucky it was just a broken toe. As I mentioned before, things could have been so much worse in the end. I’m not sure if people in our area litter or if the squirrels get into trash but I’ve seen a bit from time to time end up in our front lawn. I was trying to be careful when I ran but at that moment, I did not care for my feet.
“I am grateful that my other dog Luna did not follow her brother and stayed inside our home safe.”
When I was running after the dog, I had three thoughts in my head. Catch the dog. You left the front door open and unlocked. Watch your step. I mentioned before about my neighbor not acting to help–in my panicked state, I would have employed anyone’s assistance. It’s possible that he was watching out for our home. I would doubt anyone would step inside our house with Luna standing at the front. Even if our neighbor had no idea what was going on, I shouldn’t have any assumptions as to what he is doing.
“I am grateful that my job has given me the opportunity to attend seminars to learn about mindfulness.”
Earlier in the workday, I attended a seminar I signed up for to learn about mindfulness. If you hadn’t guessed already, I have a hard time with my thoughts and it’s a job in itself to remind me that my thoughts (negative ones) are stupid and I am a decent human being. At least I’m trying to be. The session was only an hour and I am very lucky to be in the habit of turning on my camera and microphone to fully participate in this session. While I had high expectations, I didn’t get as much as I was hoping to get from the 1-hour session. It did however set the pavement for me to investigate these 9 attitudes of mindfulness. I’ve already started with one, Gratuity.
From a bigger picture, mindfulness is just a perspective switch. I haven’t dived into the other attitudes that Jon has mentioned but the next one that struck me hard was “Non-Striving” which is the opposite of my being.
Have you tried to be mindful? What actions have you taken to find peace in your own mind?
KatD0m 