We can exercise mindfulness and awareness every moment

As mentioned in the discussion on Meditation, sometimes when we start meditating we notice our mind getting busier. We also said that it’s not actually busier, it’s just that we’ve noticed how busy it always is, perhaps for the first time. This is mindfulness, or being aware of what’s in our mind at any one moment. So, is it full of anger and jealousy, or is it calm and peaceful?

If we are mindful we can make better decisions. If we can see that our mind is angry, it might not be the best time to confront the person who ‘made’ us angry. So we stop and reflect on the situation before deciding on the wisest course of action. Perhaps we might start to see the situation from their side and realise that they are actually lashing out because of frustration at something we have done. Rather than perpetuating the conflict, we might then have compassion for their suffering, so we apologise and help them instead.

Or we might take the time to see what is really causing our discomfort. We might think that our boss is a horrible bully but by using mindfulness we might see that we don’t like our job and it’s causing our performance to deteriorate. The bullying is then the manager’s way of dealing with the situation we have caused. Granted, it’s not a particularly clever way of dealing with it, but the real problem – for us – is that we don’t like the job, rather than the manager’s personality. So we might decide to train for another career better suited to our personality and interests.