Mindfulness over mindlessness, always

One breath in, one heavy breath out. Breathing the world in, breathing myself out. Thoughts flowing through my consciousness as I walk to the next destination. The jaw feels tight and the ego is slightly bruised. I walk decisively through the predominantly Asian crowd (a novelty for me, having lived in Europe for my entire life until that point) on the humid and typically scented streets of the capital city.

A misunderstanding had just taken place — one I had not planned for or expected, which contributed to inducing the arising of hot emotions such as anger, frustration, and nervousness. The gap between expectations and reality is where most of our daily emotions stem from. The short moment of realization that reality merely is, it is not what you wish it was, or what you think it’s supposed to be.

A cultural difference impact had just taken place and my communication with the people at the reception of a commercial gym needed to be clarified. They did not speak English much, despite nodding along and saying that they understood me throughout our conversation while bowing the Thai way.

I paid extra money to access multiple gym locations throughout the capital city, but when I went to a different location than where I signed up, the front office workers asked me for additional money, and the membership card did not work there. That was unexpected and caused a strong stream of thoughts to flow through me.

I continued the next few moments of the day shifting between feeling immersed and identified with the thoughts flooding the mind, and noticing them from afar with a lighthearted laughter at their stupidity and unnecessary nature, only contributing to feeling a heightened sense of stress and nothing else useful.

As dr. Ellen Langer puts it, there is one fundamental, undeniable truth in life: mindfulness is superior to mindlessness. That means that practicing an attitude of observing oneself and the surrounding circumstances from “above” is a fundamental key principle of a good life worth living.

The mindset of mindfulness is linked to experiencing the senses all around you in every moment and doing so with the awareness that mindset effects are one of the most powerful mechanisms available to each of us, which can change the trajectory of our life situations.