My Mindfulness Challenge this week involves taking a number of small, tiny steps or actions accompanied with a reflection of your reactions, thoughts and feelings to taking those actions. What actions am I going to suggest that you take? It is really quite simple.
In every place that you find yourself look around and see what tiny small action you can take to make that place a little bit better. What do I mean exactly?
Perhaps you are in the kitchen and you notice that there is a bit of mess on the counter top. This may be your habit, but if not – simply wipe that little mess on the counter top up. It takes about 10 or 15 seconds at most; typically something that you would not do by manner of routine.
Perhaps you notice that in the bedroom there is a piece of paper on the carpet. Pick up the paper and dispose of it either in the trash or put it where it actually belongs.
Perhaps you are walking on the sidewalk outside taking your usual afternoon walk. You notice that there is a paper bag on the side of the road. Pick up the paper bag and when you find a place to dispose of it, dispose of it.
I could of course give endless examples but the idea is to leave each place that you find yourself in, just a little tiny bit better than it was when you first arrived.
“Make it Better” is the idea here. Anything goes: Anything that you can do to improve a situation counts. Enjoy this challenge but be sure to acknowledge every feeling and thought that you have when you do just what I am suggesting, whatever those thoughts and feelings might be. There will probably be a long list of reactions that you may have. Simply note them for they are rich information for you to work with as this particular challenge unfolds later in the week.
What are the deeper implications between becoming mindful and attentive of driving a vehicle or riding in a vehicle? Driving a car or riding in one has a direct analogy to the journey of recovering from Parkinson’s disease. Permit me to explain. When driving, it is almost always the case that we have a very clear and precise destination in mind. Of course that is not always the case, but almost always if we are in the car either driving or riding we are going somewhere. On your journey of recovery from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, my question to you is:
Where are you headed on your journey?
Is the end goal to see a release of the tension in your right thigh or an elimination of a tremor in your left arm? Do you set for yourself a goal that is actually one that has a negative connotation? In other words, what you really desire is for something that is currently annoying to all of a sudden end and dissolve?
Consider your possible experience with driving to two very different destinations. The first destination is a concert by a musical group that you truly love. You are going to be very motivated to get there. You are going to be energetic. You are going to be happy. You are going to be exhilarated because once you arrive you will be able to enter the concert hall and experience something that you truly and genuinely treasure.
Contrast that destination with a destination of driving to a billing enter which has just wrongly charged you $125 dollars on your internet bill. What is it like to experience driving to that destination? We all are different of course but if you are like me I’m thinking to myself,
“Do I really have to spend this time going to that office appearing in person to straighten this out? I’m really upset and angry about this. I don’t want to waste my day spending my time driving over there and solving something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
Does that sound familiar? Do you get a feeling for the contrast between those two destinations? It is really very similar to a destination and a goal that you might set for yourself when it comes to recovery. If the intention (and end state goal) is to eliminate a symptom, that is fine and good but it is certainly not anything that you can particularly look forward to. How about setting an end state goal that does serve and fulfill your true passion? Only you know what that might be of course and part of our life’s journey is to sort through and really understand and recognize and acknowledge our true passions.
Speaking personally, I have realized recently that one of my passions is writing short stories. I stopped and thought to myself,
“I need to start writing short stories because I love it!”
It has taken me quite a few years to actually make that statement and engage that behavior. What then is your fondest passion that you have put on the shelf for reasons that more than like do not make a lot of sense? Let me just give one example of a possible passion that perhaps one or even more of you might have.
Suppose your passion is to paint. You want to begin to paint again. You have some challenges, some difficulties with painting now given that some of the symptoms are making that more challenging. The end goal then is to paint. Once the goal is established, a goal that dos have energetic juice, consider the journey to be a lot like driving where you are attentive and present to each and every moment. The end goal is to paint. A recognition is made; you no longer have any paint brushes to use. The decision on this journey is to acquire some paint brushes. So you get in the car and mindfully drive to the art store. Perhaps this is all you can accomplish for this day or this week or even this month. It is a small segment of a very long journey because you know that the end result, the end goal is to return to what you truly love; which is painting.
Consider what end state goals you set for yourself. Once they are set ask yourself,
“Am I rushing like a mad person to achieve that goal just as I drive like a mad person to get to the destinations that I set for myself?”
Chances are there is little difference between the two.
Recognize and acknowledge your habits of driving will give you incredibly rich information about your own approach to recovering from whatever symptoms you might currently experience that are associated with the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Becoming mindful of this journey to achieve your end goal to accomplish your passion means you are attentive and mindful to each and every moment of that journey. Yes, the journey might last a month or two months or even three or four months before you are even in a position to begin to start painting. Each and every day, each and every hour, each and every second you were attentive and mindful to what you needed to do for yourself to be in a position where yes, you could finally manifest your passion.
In summary, ask yourself, what are you end goal states? What is it that you are driving to achieve and how are you actually preceding to get there in the vehicle that you have chosen? Your vehicle of course is your body.
The Mindfulness Challenge of this week focuses your attention on driving. If you currently do not drive a car or a vehicle but rather ride in cars, all of my suggestions will still apply to you although you are not actually driving yourself.
I have a confession to make at the outset. I have been practicing on this particular challenge now for several months. It has been a true challenge for me to convert my normal practice of scatterbrain driving to one of mindful driving. What I discovered for myself before I decided to issue this challenge to you is that when I drive typically, I consider it to be a secondary function. I don’t wish to “waste” any of my precious time so while I drive I am planning out my next activity of the day. I was surprised and shocked to discover that there would be blocks of time, sometimes five minutes sometimes ten minutes, when I was literally somewhere else. I was not attentive to where I was at the moment or even where I was going for that matter.
I converted this habit of driving to a habit of mindfulness, but only after I realized that I typically consider driving to be a secondary and unimportant function. The task is anything but that, especially if you want to avert accidents and other serious problems. When I say mindful driving what exactly does that entail?
Pay close attention to every aspect of the experience of getting into the vehicle, sitting down wherever you elect to sit and becoming totally and completely aware of how your body is positioned in the seat including where your legs are positioned. Does your body feel as though that’s the right placement for you in terms of the height of the seat are sitting in?
How does it feel when you take the key and insert it into the ignition, if in fact that’s the way your car works? Does the metal feel cold or slimy or wet?
How does it feel when you put your hands on your steering wheel? Is it sticky perhaps? Is it warm or is it too cold?
As you turn the car on, be mindful and pay attention to how that engine is running. Treat it as a child. How you feeling today, dear? Your engine will tell you what is really up in the moment. As you begin to engage that journey of the drive look, notice and be totally attentive to every moment of the drive.
Be aware of persons that may be riding bikes or walking on the side of the road. What do you do when you see such obstructions or do you consider them to be just that? What do you do when a driver comes up behind you wanting to travel 20 more miles an hour than you are driving? As you look in our rear-view mirror you happen to notice that they are two-inches from your bumper. What do you do when that happens? What is your reaction?
Become mindful of the present moment. Become aware of all the motions, all reactions and all thoughts that are connected to the driving experience in the moment. Do you typically drive right at the speed limit, below the speed limit or faster than the speed limit? What are the thoughts that drive your decision? Are you one who has the thought that the police never stop a person who drives less than ten miles over the speed limit and so you choose to always drive ten miles faster? Become aware then of whatever thoughts and whatever feelings you experience as you drive moment to moment.
The most important aspect of this challenge is of course to be present to the moment, unlike myself who tended to space out and be totally unaware of what I was doing. It is true that as we drive year after year it can become very automatic. It is also true that to be totally aware of all of the traffic behind and in front and to the sides we have the opportunity to avert potentially dangerous and life-threatening accidents for ourselves and for others.
Being mindful of the driving experience also enriches that experience. We have an opportunity to observe all of the beauty that we actually pass by such as the flowers and the trees. We actually get to observe and experience the smells, the feeling of what it is like to ride in that car and be vibrated as we bounce. It is also exhilarating to be attentive to the different road surfaces and how the driving experience shifts when that road surface becomes smooth or bumpy in transition.
Notice your habit of driving. Become aware moment to moment of the experience when you get into a vehicle whether you are a driver or passenger. Mindfulness means being present in the moment. When you drive you are not being mindful when you are planning your evening. You are not being mindful when you are evaluating something you might have said to a person earlier in the day. Live in the present moment. When you live in the present your life is enriched immeasurably. Most importantly stress dissolves like an ice-cream cone in the sunshine.
