Practicing Mindfulness: Watching Family Movies

Their cherubic faces shine through the TV screen.  Seaside, Florida, our family vacation, 1996.  Matching dresses for the five daughters and love flowing onscreen from the young son who was elder brother and superman to his younger sisters.  He took them one by one into the ocean, holding them up so they could experience the “big” waves with him.  Helping them go where they couldn't go without him.

What is family?  What is love?  This season of family coming home, if just for a meal together before they go back to their work and their world.  Each moment is a blessing.  Each moment is a priceless gift. Watching their baby faces on a screen, then hugging their grown up selves as they return to their own homes, I am mindful of the absolute preciousness of time and the sheer joy of making memories.

Practicing Mindfulness: Day Two

The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.   
                                                   Psalm 115:12 NASB

I “happened” upon this verse this afternoon.  I think this mindfulness journey is like buying a new red car.  I might start seeing it everywhere. 

Practicing this new habit is already opening my eyes:

Lesson One:

I discovered that I speed.  Very sad fact, but true.  Right after I finished my blog entry yesterday, I headed to join a friend for lunch.  Hurrying to not be late, I saw that I was almost 10 miles an hour over the limit.  That surprised me.  I slowed down and even set the cruise control for a cool 45 mph, the posted limit.  That gave me time to think and I felt a peace replace the hurry.  Driving the speed limit frees me on many levels:

1.   I feel safer.

2.   I have no fear of a ticket.

3.   I have space to enjoy the drive.

Lesson Two:

As my friend and I settled into our delicious lunch, I took a moment to savor the beauty of the salad, with its combination of green lettuces, scarlet strawberries and creamy goat cheese. Toasted pecans and tangy dressing made it a delight to the tongue. The gift of this moment of mindfulness was a true gratitude for the abundance of food that the Lord has provided.

Lesson Three:

Friends are priceless.  The gift of someone who knows your heart and loves you anyway, who brainstorms with you on what you want to be when you grow up, who shares coffee with you just so you both can stay together and talk a little bit longer…this was the gift I received yesterday.

What has mindfulness given me already?  Peace and joy and a growing-in-gratefulness heart.

Come join me on the journey. I would love to hear your story.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness: A state of active, open attention on the present.
From Psychology Today  


The idea of being awake and aware in the very heartbeats of life is calling me. Right now, as I hear the fan blowing and the bird singing, I sense the light from the window to my right drawing me.  It illuminates the room and beckons me to come outside, into the clearness of the day.  Can I become this person, who is alive in the now-ness of life?  I feel the presence of the Lord in this drawing, He who is ever mindful of us:

In Psalm 8:4, King David asks, "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

That God thinks of us...always, that He is the "I AM" and not the "I WAS" or the "I WILL BE."   

I shall try, for this moment, for this hour, for this day, to be "awake and aware," to be mindful of the day, of my own heartbeat, of the glory and truth of this "God With Us" season of joy.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14