Looking around us at the events, past and present, that play out in the world at large makes us feel like the world is undergoing severe trauma and upheaval. Even if we feel like we can look at what is happening with a dispassionate eye, the majority of us can’t. As an onlooker of a world that is aflame with apparent uncertainty and dis-ease, this does have an impact on us as individuals. Our view of ourselves and the view of the world at large at this point of time can and does make a difference to how our personal lives play out over the course of our future, but it also has an impact on our environment at large. How on earth does how we feel about ourselves impact culture around us?

As individuals and as a society, how we respond in this moment and how we use our awareness of external matters can shape the future. How you decide to be mindful and how you address and heal your underlying distress, unhappiness and discomfort in your life (on a micro or intensely personal level or on a macro or national/global level) will have an impact on your wellbeing, and your ability to nourish all the good and beautiful things that exist in your life right now, especially if you struggle with holding positive and negative thoughts in healthy tension. Flash points in society and personal life can become touchstones for what some writers call “coming to our senses”, collectively and individually. No matter how individual we feel, or if we choose to live, need I say it, selfishly - life is a shared journey and one that effects everyone else, like it or not. Being mindful often gets labelled as an act of selfishness, along with the concept of self-care - however applied correctly, it is the least self-entitled practice we can do. Whether we like what is happening in the world around us or not, examining our response to it is something we all should be doing. We are only guaranteed the here and now, and the shared journey throughout; we aren’t guaranteed a particular resolution or solution. So how do we deal with that? We can sit back, passive yet angry and confused, carried along by the reactions, actions and decisions of others, being told how to think, refusing to examine ourselves and the things that provoke any feelings of fear and unhappiness. Or we can dig deep and start to engage in why events provoke such a strong response inside us. Reacting without taking on the responsibility of looking at why we live and think the way we do can put us at risk to disordered thinking and behavior.

It’s important to increase our awareness of all our senses, our own thoughts - alongside this, we have to be self-vulnerable and recognise our own limitations and insecurities. What are our thoughts based on? Are our opinions truly ours? We fill our lives with lots of information - it seems so much more freely available, and the temptation is to try and exert control over ourselves and to exhibit rigid thinking and/or actions onto the external world. Is it any wonder we end up tired, burned-out, empty, furious and unfulfilled?

Mindfulness is a skill that can be developed through practice, just like any other skill. The muscle of mindfulness grows both stronger and more supple and flexible as you use it. We are in a relationship with everything and everyone else - they take, we give, and vice versa. We take on the suffering, fear, pain of others (consciously or not) and it can make us also feel pain for ourselves - either in empathy or because it has provoked strong discomfort. There is nothing weird or out of the ordinary about meditating or being mindful about the why and who you are. It is just about paying attention, being in the moment and seeing your life as if it really mattered.

How we exist in relationship to everything about ourselves - mind body, soul and spirit, our emotions and thinking, our behaviors and responses - this will impact on whether we treat ourselves with empathy, clarity and kindness, and like ripples in a pond, with how we treat and feel about others. It is not easy. The work of self-examination and healthy mindfulness is a lifetime process. It’s messy, painful and can unearth some deep-rooted things. If you can’t cope with some of the unearthing, it’s good to reach out for help. However, what is the alternative? What happens if you don’t acknowledge and embrace your one life, trying to live fully healthy and freely?