Thinking patterns
Negative thinking patterns decrease the quality of our lives. These patterns have their origins somewhere in our past, possibly a long time ago when we still were young, less mature and less competent.
It might have happened at school, for example, when we needed to deliver a presentation but didn’t know how to do it because we never received the guidance we needed. Maybe we experienced times when no one – not even parents or friends – were there to help us. At the time we needed encouragement and support but only ended up hurt. Such negative memories can remain deep in our minds and then we keep thinking about them without even wanting to.
When these old memories surface, we may experience bursts of anxiety and worry. Our focus is then disrupted, we lose our concentration and are not able to enjoy fully what we are currently experiencing.
Mindfulness: live for the moment
In order to disconnect from our outdated thoughts, we should practise observing our own mind. When you are mindful, you are able to realise that these thoughts are no longer necessary. You have come a long way from that point in your life. Old failures served as learning opportunities so we are rarely as weak and lost as we might have been many years before. By practising mindfulness, you learn to observe your own mind compassionately. You will then be able to calm it as well, according to an article on the psychologytoday.com website.
Mindfulness is also about not focusing on the desired outcome if this makes you feel anxious. If you concentrate on the activity itself, the anxiety will decrease. Then your performance will improve and you will also enjoy more whatever you are doing. Mindfulness helps us to live this way: by being focused on the task at hand we may escape our old recurring fears.
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