How many times have you woken up in the morning with a to do list already ringing in your head? How many times you sit down to do some work whether house work, office work or even any creative project and there is ‘that’s next’ thing going in your mind?
I have found myself doing that all the time. Its starts with my morning tea, when I am already planning kids’ lunches in my head, what’s going to be made for dinner. What are the outside school activities? When I am brushing my daughter’s hair, I am not paying attention to her chatter about her yesterday’s tennis lesson, but I am planning next week’s birthday party. I would be rehashing a meeting discussion in my head, and how well I could have handled it differently. Even helping kids with their homework, I am not fully present, as my mind is racing to check what time is it, is the dinner ready, are the clothes ready for tomorrow.
I have always thought that I am good at multitasking. However, research shows that our brains are not capable of multitasking, guarantying that our focus will be poor. It only resulted in stress and anxiety at all times, as switching between tasks, I never achieved deep focus on any one. As a result I missed having emotional connection with that moment.
Last year, I had been introduced to the concept of mindfulness. Which essentially means being aware of what’s happening around you and be present in that moment. Since my accident earlier this year, I have had a lot of time to reflect on some of my multitasking habits. They say, becoming aware about the bad habit is a first step towards developing a new habit. It has been pretty difficult to change my actions but being consciously aware of them is a good start for me.
I have decided to challenge myself in the last few weeks on weekends (Just wanted to go a bit easy on myself, by not having to deal with a weekday stress to start on this journey). So, on weekends, I have decided to be stay focused on the task at hand and not being worried with the chatter in my head. Slow down….
This weekend, I woke up with ten things going in my head, that I needed to tackle. As I was getting my feet ready to get out of the bed, my elder daughter came into the bedroom ready to bombard her questions towards me. She started with turning light on, looking for pen in my side drawer. In the process taking everything, she saw out. In my normal routine, I would have asked her to stop and went on to do my routine. However, as I was about to say, I stopped my mental chatter, took 5 deep breaths and then focused on what she was saying and understanding without interrupting her. She came across my pregnancy journal and started asking questions. I found myself sharing small details that I had written in there. Looking at the ultrasound scans, I could see wonder in her eyes. It was a beautiful morning to spend with her sharing those precious times and stories. I could feel cheerfulness in her voice. Now when I reflect at that moment, it is a new beautiful memory created for lifetime.
In the afternoon, we spent some time making creative things. Three of us sat there, focused on the activity each one of us was doing. Bringing these little mindfulness moments in the our life, will help us slow our thoughts going spiral out of control, and reconnect within us and also to each other. Just another step towards defining a new way of life.
Being Creative is the way. . . .
Next challenge will be to bring this into a crazy frenzy weekday morning. . . . .
#mindfulness #dailyinspiration #creativity # happiness #joyfullness #beingin themoment #familytime
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