When was the last time you bumped into someone on the pavement because you were both walking along looking at your phones? The need to raise the importance of being present in a digital age is such a 21st century phenomenon. But it IS important because it is another oft-cited deathbed regret: I wish I…
Learning to accept…ourselves, our lives.
As we continue our musing through the 10 keys for Happier living, as outlined by Action for Happiness, we come to the penultimate: Acceptance. Once again, I am struck by the timing of this. Here in Scotland, as I mentioned last week, Covid-19 restrictions are easing and there are glimmers of hope for more normal…
An Advent gift For the Senses
I love the practice of slowing by paying attention to our senses. This is a well documented mindfulness tool for bringing us back from anxiety into the moment. I have written more about that here. But it is also a great way to become more aware of what is going on around us that we…
Courage to say no
Last week, I posed the question asked by Matt Damon in the 2011 film ‘We bought a Zoo’: What would you do with 20 seconds of insane courage?” This week, let’s make that more specific. Imagine that 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery gave you… Courage to say no. What would you want to say no…
How do we go through sadness well?
Last week I was musing here about the sadness experienced in this house, as in many across the country, at our Elder Nearest-and-Dearest leaving home for university. Sadness is an important emotion, and it is there for a reason. We can’t go over it or under it, we have got to go through it (to…
A gift for Mental Health Awareness week
What direction are your thoughts taking you in? Towards fear or towards peace and acceptance? Towards anxiety about tomorrow or towards gratitude for what you have today? Last week I was musing here about the importance of being grounded in the moment, and using square breathing as a tool for that purpose. This week is…
Give grace to others…and yourself
How are things in your household this week? What emotions are running under the surface, and how are those emotions leaking out in the form of perhaps more challenging behaviour? To whom do you perhaps need to give grace? As we continue in this DC world, with no sign of life AC – After Corona…
Helpful tools for this DC world
How are you feeling this week? I was musing last week on the importance of taking time to reflect each day as we try our best to live in this strange DC world. Life BC seems a distant memory, and it is too soon to dream about all the marvelous things we will do AC…
Practicing being present
It is an oft-quoted statistic that it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill. This hypothesis was popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in his book ‘Outliers’, where he was referring to work by psychologist K Anders Ericsson. Gladwell’s argument is that with enough consistent practicing and effort, anyone can become an expert in a new…
How to stay present when you’re busy?
This for me is the real kicker, in our quest to give up busyness for Lent. Our lives are full and busy, that is a given that is unlikely to change in our modern, first world lives. However. We have been musing here about how to live busy and present, not busy and distracted. Part…