Over the last two or three weeks, I have distracted myself a lot without being conscious about it.
It's been pretty stressful.
This affected my mindfulness, which affected my well-being.
And my default reflex for this is to comfort me with external stimuli, particularly YouTube videos and food. Despite years of meditation, it's often hard recognizing this, and even harder doing something different.
Until yesterday evening. I wanted to wash the dishes and then casually set up my phone to watch some YouTube videos while doing this.
Then something in my mind asked: “what the hell are you doing there? If you're going to wash the dishes, just wash the dishes.”
This made me realize how I, despite knowing it better, still chose distraction, unconsciously. And just as I was about to go down the rabbit hole of being angry about not being mindful, some part of my brain said, “that anger is just a thought, too; let it go.”
So I let it go and simply enjoyed 20 minutes of washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.
Nothing more. Nothing less. Just being present.
And it felt wonderful.
Reading Recommendations
“When we’re hit with uncertainty either suddenly or in large amounts, it can throw us off. We can get frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed, discouraged. This is normal and there’s nothing wrong with it. However, it’s my belief that we can train ourselves to stay more balanced when things get chaotic, stay level-headed and […]”
Merely expecting to feel stressed has a negative effect on our mood
“Study of election stress suggests that anticipating future stressors can be as impactful as experiencing those stressors directly.”
A Beginner's Guide to Binary Trees
“Binary trees are among one of the first data structures that students are taught in a data structures course. A binary tree is made of many nodes, and each node of the binary tree contains two pointers that indicate the left and right child data nodes.”
Weekly Mindfulness Practice
The next time you're doing a chore like washing dishes or hanging laundry, be present doing what you're doing.
Go through the different senses. The sounds, the smells, the feelings on your skin,…. Savour every moment.
End Note
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Have a great week
Simon
PS: What do you think about this? Please reply and let me know. I’m curious!