Hello again! The weekend was great but time to start another week. Last weekend I went golfing. I do not golf much and definitely learned where I could improve. Nonetheless, I also noticed how easy it was to compare myself to others rather than just enjoying what I was doing. When I started to have fun and enjoy the scenery I was able to play better. Oftentimes overthinking can throw us off of what to do. Let’s talk about our ability to be where we are instead of thinking we need to be somewhere else.
Have you ever been somewhere, say a vacation spot or just doing a fun activity and thought that you should be doing something else? Many times when we are somewhere to have a good time or we may be doing something as little as going for a walk on a nice day we start having thoughts about what we are supposed to be doing or need to be doing even though we know that we can get to it later. There are times when we are bored or have nothing to do but feel we need to look at our phones or need to distract ourselves from not doing nothing. Our minds may be wired to always need to be doing something so it makes it hard to accept and enjoy where we are at. The mind for many years has helped keep us alive in times of survival. However, times are not the same and when we can think differently we can allow ourselves to every now and then be ok to slow down and enjoy life.
So how can we start to slow our minds down and be more present? We may feel the need to always be looking at our phone or the tv when we are passing time. This can cause a dopamine spike which causes us to be more “addicted” to looking at screens. Many marketers and news media know the ins and outs of what causes us to become “glued” to the screen. Then our minds start to compare ourselves to others or make us feel that we need this or that product or should be doing this specific activity to better our lives. This can cause people to become anxious or depressed based upon the information presented. When we are able to either set certain times to watch tv or look at our phones and/or limit the screen time all together we are starting to wire our brains differently. We start the process of being able to be more present and enjoy where we are at when we are there.
Today there are many things going on that can make us feel negatively such as nervous, anxious, sad, frustrated, etc. These emotions are not bad but allow us to be able to direct ourselves to another direction. However, when we slow down and really start to appreciate and focus on all the good in the world we start seeing more and more of it.
Thanks for reading.
D. Chip
