MINDFULNESS MONDAY: The Word Is Out
/Imagine looking at your list of “to-do’s” today.
Now imagine if you could put a line through all the points, and just write one word at the top of the page. What would it feel like if that one thing was all you had to achieve for that day? Perhaps this word would be your main goal and motivation.
Can you think of one word first thing in the morning that could be your anchor for everything you need to do that day? Something that will be your point of focus and give you purpose?
Having one word, an ‘action’ word that we keep in the front of our minds, can help us concentrate our mindset, our intentions and of course, our actions throughout the day.
Keeping that word as a mindful ‘blanket’, so to speak, over everything in our schedule so that it informs our choices and ties everything we have to do into a sense of united purpose.
So rather than saying “I need to do X, then I need to do Y, and go and pick up Z’, for example, your focus is something like “peaceful”. That verb then informs HOW you go about your day. While you still have things you want to achieve, because you have set a particular intention, this is what motivates what and how you do things. It will affect how you feel about yourself, others and how you treat people and situations.
No-one says it will be easy - especially if you’re stuck in traffic, dealing with difficult people and tough situations. As an example, if your word/phrase is “let it go”, apply it to each and every situation - remind yourself of it during the day, and see if focusing and being led by that word makes a difference to our actions and reactions.
We all lead busy lives, and it’s easy to get distracted, upset and stressed by everything that goes on around it. What might be different if we try to filter out all the noise and focus in on our one word for the day? How might we act?
It’s a simple thing, it it can have a big impact on us and the people around us. Practice it, try it out, see how it goes. We really do have the power to choose our actions and reactions, we are not completely helpless.
For me, my word today is “patience” - I’ll try to let this inform my day and how I interact with myself and others.
