Mindfulness Challenge for the Week – Mindfulness Challenges

The mindfulness challenge this week is admittedly onerous and difficult. If you choose to accept the challenge of the week you will indeed find it to be perplexing and frustrating. You will likely find that you repeatedly forget to actually do what I’m about to suggest.

The focus of the mindfulness exercise this week is on transitions as you move from one space to another. We are in continuous transitions in our life. Because most of us are continually anticipating the future, we miss the experience of the actual transition moment. We are anticipating what we will encounter in the room we are about to enter rather than fully and completely experiencing the transition from one space to the next.

The challenge is the following. For each door that you encounter throughout the week, stop before you open the door. Take a breath in and out. Then open the door and enter the new space. You may well encounter as many as two hundred doors in a single day. You may well forget to stop, take a breath and then open the door for half, three-fourths or who knows, all of the doors that you encounter in any given day, but give it a try.

Accept this as a fun challenge anyway. Each and every door that you encounter that is closed,

Stop
Take a slow breath in – then out
Open the door
Enter the new space mindfully.

Have fun with the onerous and difficult challenge of the week as you begin the most rewarding of all challenges to become present in each and every moment of your life. May you have a magnificent week opening and closing doors of your life.

Robert

Start with yourself this week as I invite you to track evidence of aging, moment to moment, day to day. When I say start with your self, the next time that you look at yourself in a mirror ask yourself:

“How have I been aging recently?
Do I have a wrinkle or two more than I could remember before?
Do I have a gray hair or two more than I can remember just last month?
Are my eyelids droopy?
Is my jaw sagging?”

Look at yourself; go ahead and be critical if you want and just ask yourself the question,

“How have I been aging?”

Record your observations if you will – whatever observations you would like to make about your own aging. Then put that record of observations aside.

For the remainder of the week collect evidence of aging that can be found throughout your world. For example,

Notice paint on walls. Detect evidence of paint that may be fading or chipping.
Notice dogs. Every dog you pass, ask yourself, “What’s the evidence of aging here? Does this dog have gray hair. Perhaps they are having a problem keeping up with their owner during the walk?
Notice evidence of aging in trees. What evidence is there of aging in trees that you are drawn to observe? Is there moss growing on the branches ? Are the branches ragged with age?
Notice vegetables in your refrigerator. Vegetables spoil when left uneaten.
Notice expiration dates on products that you purchase at the store. Many food products have expiration dates because past a certain point the food spoils.
Notice neon signs that might have letters missing. After all, the neon signs did not have letters missing when they were new. Now that they have aged it is very common for neon signs to have a flicker in a letter or two or a letter that refuses to lite up.
Notice the petals on flowers which are wilting. Flowers are beautiful but they never last forever.
Notice the fruit that you eat this week. If left uneaten, fruit eventually rots and discolors.
Notice cars. Clearly some cars are new; they have just been manufactured. Other cars are decades old and have significant evidence of rust.

Acknowledge all evidence of aging as you go through your daily routine this week, minute by minute, day by day throughout the entire week.
And be sure to have fun as you assume the role of a meticulous detective who has a keen eye toward tracking evidence of aging in pretty much everything you encounter.

Robert

Category: Mindfulness Challenge for the Week

Transitions

Aging