Although we tend to approach every January 1st as new beginning, we can just as easily approach EVERYDAY as a new beginning.
“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” – Alan Cohen
We can start a Mindfulness Meditation practice any day of the week. The two most common reasons adults adopt a Mindfulness practice is Curiosity and Change.
Curiosity is simply a strong desire to learn. As children, we are filled with a sense of curiosity, but somehow as we age, we tend to stop seeking and begin to spend more time stewing. We have replaced such a positive and necessary child-like trait with worry, stress, anxiety, self-doubts. Our ego turns into more of a “I know it all” or I don’t believe it’s for me” attitude as we continue with our “day to day” challenges minus our full enjoyment of our lives. We lose our ability to have an open mind to new concepts and tools that just might be more beneficial than we may ever imagine. We get stuck! We refuse to examine better options that are available to us. Curiosity fuels growth.
Change is defined as “the act of making or becoming different. Neuroscientific, psychological and medical research reaffirms that a daily practice of Mindfulness Meditation is a powerful agent for “change”. And that’s what motivates many individuals to learn about Mindfulness. They soon discover that not only is this ancient meditation practice an effective tool to combat the suffering of anxiety, self-doubt, stress, chronic pain, worry, sleeplessness, and negative thinking, etc.…it also has been shown to (positively) physically alter the brain and to change how we react to our thoughts, the primary culprits, that are responsible for our suffering; and, in turn, all of this promotes and expands our emotional and physical well-being.
As we begin each day anew, we can start change at any given moment. We often overlook our need for change or even fear change because we underestimate its’ value. We don’t realize that often times, it is change that provides us with a catalyst to re-invent ourselves, to free ourselves from suffering. When that happens, we begin to view our lives as filled with joy, happiness and an inner sense of resilience. We learn to be at peace with ourselves and with others.
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”– Gail Sheehy