On a lovely holiday to the Caribbean a few years ago as a family we were walking down to the beach and we were stopped by a lovely man who wanted to engage with us and try and sell us something. To grab our attention his opening line was ‘stop acting so British’ he went on to say ‘Why are you rushing, the sunshine isn’t going to go away, learn to chill’ Me being me, I am always on a mission, always in a rush, but why. Where do I want to get quicker?
This man really got me to think, I am very bad at self-imposed pressure. Setting my self near impossible work schedules, even moaning at myself when I don’t cycle as fast as I should when out cycling. Why?
But I am learning, I sometimes I now drive the long way route home through my favourite villages to appreciate what is good about where I live. Instead of jumping on the tube in London at the nearest station I walk and take in the great buildings the city has to offer. I sit outside with a cup of tea and no mobile device and enjoy the moment and the fresh air. Turn the radio off when driving and take in the surroundings. Watching a film and not fast forwarding it. I enjoy getting up 10 minutes earlier so I can enjoy my breakfast, instead of gulping it down like a hungry Labrador dog.
Trying to enjoy the moment is becoming a new hobby of mine. ‘Slow down David why are you in a hurry?’ I ask myself. To help me slow down I have read a lovely book called Mindfulness for the Mindless which takes you on a lovely trip of techniques to enjoy what you have got and to create a positive mindset.
The book then provides some very good techniques specifically on Mindfulness to focus on the moment. Naturally you can’t just do mindfulness every now and again, you have to work at it and make it part of your life. It’s worth the effort. It’s like practicing and learning to do 30 press ups it doesn’t just happen you have to give your time and effort.
As someone said on a course recently ‘ I need to go away and practice my practicing’ which I thought was great way of putting it. Perhaps we can give ourselves a bit more time and effort instead of charging around.
I am off to sit in the garden and enjoy the stillness and the fresh air.
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