Exploring mindfulness for life and business

I practice mindfulness at every opportunity, so much so that I have a little app on my phone that pings me some morning insp every day.

I posted earlier on in the week that I had announcement to make today. Until this little note popped up via my app this morning..

Psychology Fact: " You are more likely to achieve your goals if you keep them to yourself."

A strong believer in that everything happens for a reason, I've decided to honour my trusty App and to be honest several other mid-week signs that we shouldn't be sharing this just yet.

Consciously I reckon I do this anyway though, I'm always blogging about my past and recent life lessons but never really reveal what our future holds, I'm excited by that, every choice we make creates change and boy are we always ready for change.

Mindfulness is all about your daily approach to life, Life isn't a thing that's meant to be consolidated, It's a day by day process and your only really truly living when every day brings a new challenge, different excitement and lessons learnt, it's all about learning how to be so present in your daily choices that you really maximise everything and soak it all up.

Put simply, when was the last time you walked into a bar and just sat, alone. Soaked in your surroundings and met someone new? Male or female, it doesn't matter, why aren't we 'open' all the time? Why aren't we open to the idea that faces are people living a whole different life to you, with different experiences and qualities that could enhance the quality of your own? Why don't we smile at  all the people we catch eyes with? ...

Ever been to another country, somewhere more 'open' than the UK, somewhere in Europe maybe, where the majority of those you cross paths with welcome you with open arms and are so friendly that it almost freaks you out?.. Well, for me that's the peace that Mindfulness brings, it's a greater understanding of the opportunity for growth, everyday. I don't mind being that strange person that small talks to a stranger for no reason for a moment before making a connection, in fact I'm bloody glad I've learnt how to do it and be comfortable, otherwise I wouldn't have met some of the amazing people that are a huge part of my life now.

They say that we'll interact with over 80,000 people in our lifetime. Imagine how amazing our lives would be if we made acquaintances with even a quarter of that, endless trips and visits, the event  invites and more opportunity to further extend your circle. Imagine how less judgemental you'd become when you learn to stop judging a book by it's cover because everybody has a different story to tell, How much more positive would your life feel?

I realised right at the very beginning, before I learnt about mindfulness, that anxiety was my main reason for being so 'closed', so I did something I'd never do after speaking to my friend Louise, and I started living my life for me and being necessarily selfish.
It wasn't drastic but for me it was huge, I chose to do something that is usually seen to only be done in pairs or groups, and out of choice I went to the cinema alone. I wanted to feel comfortable enough to exist on my own and be comfortable in my own presence. This excersise allowed me to re-connect with myself enough to feel comfortable around new people. sound silly? try it.

Remember when I posted,
"If you don't like you are, move, you are not a tree?"

I fully believe this and live by this ethos, I've only moved 400 miles away from the Midlands 8 years ago and I've achieved so much in that time, and met so many amazingly interesting people because I created opportunity to except change and growth.

I'll leave you with these, its worth exploring so go grab a mindfulness book ;)