Be here, be now. Why mindfulness is bad for you.

Be where? Beware.

Have you ever walked looking into your mobile and almost hit someone or something accidentally? Or maybe, if you’re not so attached to this small device – did it happen to you that your thoughts were so far away that you barely noticed what was around you? Just be honest. It happened to me, it happened to everyone, at least once in a lifetime. Or let’s be really honest – that happens more often then we realise – during long journeys, boring meetings but also during many usual activities which we tend to do on autopilot. The point is, we’re not fully here at those moments. Physically – yes, mentally – not at all. Our thoughts are in much more interesting places.

Here.

All those places where our mind wander have one common characteristic – our presence there is not real. For some reason we choose to be in these imaginary locations, forgetting entirely of the place where we really are at the moment – here. That would mean, we’d rather be somewhere else, with different people, doing something we don’t do right now. And we keep thinking about that, thinking that it could make us happy. The biggest trap of our mind – illusion, that we need to keep searching for happiness, as it’s always somewhere else. Never here, never now. And never truly real. Beware.

Now.

Do you remember that time when your life was wonderful? Or, if you think it’s never been – do you imagine that it could be in the future (find something about planning here: Planning is great, but…)? Have you ever spent time thinking of these past moments? Dreaming about future happiness which could appear one day? Another biggest trap – illusion, that whatever best for us already happened or hasn’t happened yet. In both cases, it’s definitely not now.

Mindfulness.

If you’ve decided to read this article, it’s quite likely that you’ve already started to be aware that something with this mind wandering is wrong. So, mindfulness is all about that awareness. About being present. Realising that the only reality we’ve got is here and now. And that here and now absolutely nothing is wrong. It may be hard to believe but I’ll give more light on that in other articles. Or, if you’ve got some experience in this area – leave a comment, reading them is always inspiring.

It’s bad for you.

If you decide to live here and now, you can lose all that extraordinary times and places where your mind feel comfortable. You’ll detach yourself from the bright future and wonderful past and from all those amazing places and activities you’re thinking of. That’s a lot to sacrifice and majority of people are not ready for it. I’m not entirely sure if I am myself.

Or is it?

Changing our mindset to be always focused on present moment can lead to amazing discoveries. It allows to realise that we don’t really need to look back or wait for miracles to happen. That we can be happy just now. That we’ve got everything we need, although we tend to ignore that. It’s about opening eyes and starting to notice what a great world we’ve got around – just now. Is it worth to give it a go?