how to be aware in an unaware world

Tag: mindfulness

Control
Changing things up a bit, this post is much less a how-to-live-better and much more a small story of a small hike I went on earlier this year. Also, If you find any value in my musings, your support will go miles long to support me! You can do so over at buymeacoffee.com/mindfulnessand
“We treat the body cruelly to remind it that the mind is in control.”
A beautiful and eloquent quote I cannot find the source of (or cited source of). It reminds me of every time I’ve pushed past my body and mind’s limits, from hiking Olamana’s Three Peaks in sandals and half a water bottle, or Kings Peak after springing both ankles a few months prior, or climbing Queens Bluff when my arms and legs shook uncontrollably from the danger, or camping alone and banged up in the deep woods of northern Alabama. Each time, my mind was in control even though my body was strained. I focused and re-focused on what steps ensured survival. The mind has a ridiculous amount of power over the body, we are reminded of this every 4 years during the Olympics or on any given outdoor channel. So if I could give any encouragement in this post it would be to never forget the power of your mind. Train it to your betterment, and use it to your advantage.
It is early January as I hike up and up along the steep and dry face of Mt. Olympus in Salt Lake’s mountainous backyard, pushing higher and higher above the inversion, I turn around to see…
Bated breath escapes my lungs as I stand and soak in the appalling and mesmerizing view, a flat lake of dense pollution and cold, trapped air floating above Salt Lake Valley.
I can hear the momentous traffic below, a steady hum like an AC running in the background of a summer home. It is loud enough to drown out the thoughts bubbling in the mind yet soft enough to drown out the exhaustion in the body.
Leaving the hum behind, I continue up the rocky trail, around the corner of the canyon, the sun inching out of a thing cloud above. Turning left into a dark caress of the canyon covered by trees on either side, I reach a section of the trail covered with packed snow and pause to catch my breath again.
A few fellow enthusiasts greet me while sliding down with crampons and much more sense than I. A mental note is taken to get some crampons or spikes when I next see fit to.
While continuing up the trail into steeper ground and fewer trees, I begin to realize the sun is getting cautiously low, hovering just above the mountains in the distance, and I get cautiously close to turning around, without the proper gear and light to push my will much further. How to Trick Your Brain into Doing Hard Things
Though this is an interesting reflection, my will was waning, but my body was content with going further. Previously, logic would have lost to determination, yet as I age so does my determination, becoming less childlike and more deliberate. How to Train Your Brain to Enjoy Doing Hard Things
And so, it doesn’t take long for my logical voice to win as I pause to take a sip of water, sit down on the blanketed trail, and then cautiously begin my descent back down, darkness slowly closing in…
And here is another question. What about darkness besides the lack of light is to be feared and cautious of? Sure, there are lower temperatures and night-time creatures to not forget, however, the cold is tempered by warmer clothing and a quicker pace, and to the hidden creatures, we are just another strange predator, but unequivocally not preferred prey.
Thank you for reading this story of mine and the associated, random thinking. Given that hard things only become harder when we recognize them as being “hard” in the first place, I will make writing an easy task. How to Trick Your Brain to Like Doing Hard Things
In reality, when I just sit to write, I enjoy it very, very much and it’s not laborious at all, the trick is to just sit to write. Have a wonderful day!
March 15, 2024
Less
I’ve been working on these Gratitude Manifestations, one of which was the gratitude for a job I greatly enjoy and challenges me, and well, it has come to fruition and filled my plate with a ton of work. I have now found the pace to get back into writing, and will continue to do so each day! If you enjoy my posts and would like to, you can support me over at buymeacoffee.com/mindfulnessand
“The best things in life aren’t things.“
This one isn’t so much a quote as it is a simple yet profound statement passed on for thousands of years. For the past few months I have begun to repeat this phrase in my day, and by way of repetition, also understand its meaning more and more.
The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things
I have found, over and over, that the purpose of life, at least as mine is concerned, includes people. The relationships and experiences spent with the ones I love, admire, and get to know, have strengthened this revelation.
Additionally, living with less has taught me to appreciate more. More time, more energy, more ideas, more travel, and more opportunities.
It’s when I break down the idea of possession that I find this truth: I don’t own a single thing (the posture of Stoicism).
Stoicism: You Don’t Own Anything.
Yes, you hear that right. Everything I had, have, and will ever have is borrowed. My car and everything in it is borrowed from resources of the Earth, from the air I breathe to the body I inhabit is borrowed for a few years and then returned to the Earth.
The Philosophy of Stoicism
We are but animated shells on this ride called life, and it’s this realization that helps me put it all in perspective and feel so grateful for these gifts. For this shared, human experience.
But why then do we hold ever so tightly onto the things (tangible and intangible) as if they will remain in our lives forever?
Because of a little unknown word called enculturation, which teaches us to desire and strive for the things and people we want so we can experience and “have” them for ourselves.
We are indoctrinated at a young age to think and act with enculturation, and it takes constant practice and mindfulness as an adult not to give in to it, and even then we still do.
This isn’t to say things don’t matter. Every post on this blog, this post, was typed on a laptop that I enjoy using, from a company that makes consumer goods I’m particularly attached to (I’ll let you guess which one).
But I remind myself often that these are things for my usage alone, and therefore, I shouldn’t get particularly attached to them.
Should I be robbed or lose these things, life will go on (quite literally). If we don’t remember to use things for their proper purposes, they can, over time, rob of us the truth that the best things in life aren’t things, but rather the people and experiences we have throughout our lives.
So, you probably asking by now, Josh, what are the damn 6 ways to live with less?
1. Take on the minimalism game – So every time I mention this challenge, people freak out and already give up. It’s not necessarily a challenge to become a minimalist, but rather minimize the clutter in your life! Just try it for a week at least!
2. Keep a box or bag in your room or common area to put things in that no longer serve a purpose in your life.
3. Go through your phone’s apps, photos, videos, and documents; deleting the things that you forgot were buried in there.
4. Also go through your computer’s apps, photos, videos, and documents; and save the things you want or need to the cloud.
5. This might sound counter-intuitive, but turn your phone (and computer) screens to monochrome, which will make your devices boring as shit, and you will be far less fixated on the stuff on them.
6. When we stare at screens much less than we stare at our friend’s faces, we begin to live with less, less of all that is advertised on our screens!
Consider today those closest to you. Spend time with them if you can, or just call them up and thank them for being in your life.
February 1, 2024
Rejection
“Most dazzling human achievements are, in fact, the aggregate of countless individual elements, each of which is, in a sense, ordinary.”
– Angela Duckworth
(Another way of stating this is that individually we are ordinary, but together we are extra ordinary).
Layers and layers of simple inventions, like the parts of a computer (or the layers of a cake), make this possible, making the ordinary extraordinary (or delicious).
And broken down, piece by piece, anything can be understood and learned, from rocket engines to apple pies (also delicious).
It’s not just about the matter either, people become more understood and surprisingly relatable when unwrapping their layers.
Reflection
Take agoraphobia for instance, a condition consistent with many layers, trauma, self-doubt, isolation, etc. that when confronted and encouraged, can heal someone and change their life.
What’s agoraphobic you ask? It’s a person with an extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving their own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult (like Van Gough).
Last I checked, there are a lot of anxious and socially awkward people out there, which can be for a lot of reasons, but one that speaks numbers is the fear of rejection or humiliation.
Because we are biologically hardwired with a longing to belong, we fear being seen critically. So much so that we avoid any situation that could cause rejection at all.
But there within lies a greatly missed opportunity: Rejection. Beautiful, terrifying, life-changing, character-building rejection!
Rejection teaches us a powerful lesson: we are not supposed to be liked by everyone. That’s impossible (and so we can save a lot of energy just letting that shit go too).
As we become less afraid of what we’re experiencing inside — that is, less afraid of ourselves — we become less intimidated by rejection and more empowered to love and be loved.
So once again, this has nothing to do with the ingenuity and grit of teams, but more so of the individual.
It reminds me of Steve Rogers in the first Captain America, who was so frail and thin that he could barely run a mile straight, but he had one thing no other soldier did: a heart and a mind.
He was the one who jumped on top of a dummy grenade, screaming for his comrades to get back while they scurried away anyway (heart because it was the right thing to do, not the easy thing) (like Dumbledore).
And learned to get the flag off the top of a tall ass pole by simply removing the pin at the bottom while his comrades scrambled on top of each other to grab it (mind because of awareness, not some oversized intelligence) (that’s Tony Stark).
Yes, thank you, I am a nerd.
Encouragement
What scares you the most out there? I encourage us to embrace that, even if very slowly. Try and do one thing today that scares you, whether it be meeting a new person or trying a new food.
Also, what would you like to learn today? Because you can learn absolutely anything you want.
Given this realization, try solving some of these riddles by breaking them down (the answers are in the first link).
1. Mr. and Mrs. Mustard have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the Mustard family?
2. How do you make the number 7 even without addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division?
3. Always in you, Sometimes on you; If I surround you, I can kill you. What am I?
4. How can you take 2 from 5 and leave 4?
5. Two girls have the same parents and were born at the same hour on the same day of the same month, but they are not twins. How can this be possible?
Thanks
I am thankful for the space and platform to write. This blog has breathed new life into me and I’m eternally grateful.
As always, you can like, share, reply to this post below or support me over at buymeacoffee.com/mindfulnessand
Links
P.S. I will start recommending a new book with every blog post. Today, it’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (with help from Ashwaganda). Here’s an introduction:
Life is not about getting rid of problems, it’s about finding better problems. It’s not about avoiding failure, it’s about getting better at failure. It’s not about knowing everything, but becoming more comfortable in not knowing anything.
January 4, 2024