April 24, 2017 - Resistance

“Resistance is a slayer of dreams.” - Matthew Kelly

 I've gotten away from posting mindful living tips and decided to refocus. Some may be similar to earlier posts, but I think they are important for my mindful living journey (and yours if you are following along). A few things to work on so we can be more mindful:

1. Resist Urges. Watch your urges. Sit there and watch the urge rise and fall, until it is gone, without acting on it. Resist your urge to check email or social media, to eat something sweet or fried, to drink alcohol, to watch TV, to be distracted, to procrastinate. These urges will come and go, and you don’t have to act on them.
2. Resist Ideals. We all have ideals, all the time. We have an ideal that our day will go perfectly, that people will be kind and respectful to us, that we will be perfect, that we’ll never fail. Of course, we know from experience that those ideals are not real, that they don’t come true, that they aren’t realistic. But we still have them, and they cause our stress and fears and grief over something/someone we’ve lost. By letting go of ideals, we can let go of some of our frustrations.
3. Watch Your Resistance. When you try to do something uncomfortable, or try to give up something you like or are used to, you’ll find resistance. Matthew Kelly, a speaker with Dynamic Catholic, says "Resistance is that sluggish feeling that stops us from doing the things that we know are good for us. It’s that sense that, “I don’t want to do that,” even though we know it’s the thing we should do."  Be mindful of your resistance. Learn to recognize it and be curious about it so you can conquer it. 

These are all things that I plan to work on this week!

(Days 121-128)