Here I document my adventures in travel, lifestyle, and thinking differently with the hope of broadening people’s perspectives. I hope you enjoy!
All in Mindfulness
Recently I was staring up at the clock in class while teaching, and it struck me how fleeting our time is. We often act as if we have an unlimited amount of it left, yet it is a very finite resource, if not the scarcest of all. So, I did what any sane person would do and created a countdown timer keeping track of the amount I have left.
This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a 21 day no complaining challenge, and I invite you to join me.
This month I decided to delete all my social media apps (Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat) in order to try and focus on living in the moment. So far, here are some of the things I have noticed.
Over the past five or six years I have focused on optimizing my life. However, I have recently noticed that some optimizations do not always have the intended effect, and perhaps make things even harder than they were pre-optimization. While there is certainly something to be said for problems such as these arising simply out of an increased awareness rather than that they actually formed due to some prior change, I think it is worth considering the impacts such optimizations have on our lives.
A few days ago, I was looking for something to do with a friend back home. We only see each other a few times a year, so I try to plan special trips to make the most of our limited time together. Although I usually have no problem thinking of fun activities, this time I struggled to think of what we would do, until I remembered an article I read a few years back that talked about being a tourist in your hometown.
One of my favorite authors of all time, Leo Babauta, the author of Zen Habits, recently created a video training program on "Turning Uncertainty to Find Mindful Openness" as a birthday gift to his readers. But, I'm sure he can explain it better than I can. I will be following along for the next 44 days of life, starting tomorrow. I'd love it if you would consider joining us :)
