Written by: Brandon Grentz
Have you ever started to read a book and minutes later snapped back into reality to realize you didn’t remember what you just read? Maybe you were so distracted or busy that you didn’t notice a friend’s haircut or that they planted new flowers around the Southern fountain at the roundabout.
If you keep up with topics on mental health, you’ve probably noticed the word “mindfulness” is trending lately. Trends typically lose their meaning when they get thrown around without explanation. So today, let’s dive into what mindfulness really is.
A new study conducted at Queens University in Kingston, Canada, found that people, on average, have over 6,000 thoughts a day. Many thoughts that we have are about the past or the future. They may occur when you are studying for an upcoming exam or doing homework trying to recall what you’ve learned that day.
However, the only thing we can really exert change on is the present. The present is indeed linked to our past and also has major implications for our future. But if we are too focused on anything but the present, we can miss a lot of the important time we have now.
Mindfulness, simply put, is grounding ourselves in the here and now.
Mindfulness is making sure we are experiencing things as they happen, rather than being too stuck in our minds or drifting our attention away from where we are. For example, how many times do you check your phone in a day? We often do it out of habit or turn to it when things get too quiet or uncomfortable. You look at your phone often, but if I ask you what the top right icon is on your home screen would you remember? We can do a lot of things mindlessly. We must be intentional about being present in the present moment.
In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul writes “By beholding we become changed.” What we turn our attention and focus to has great implications for our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. If we are constantly regretting things of the past, it can turn into depression. If we are constantly anticipating the future or the next bad thing that could happen, it can turn into anxiety.
Focusing on the present and being mindful grounds us to more of what we can control instead of things we cannot. As Christians, we can also bring God into our present to focus on how He is working in us and through us.
So next time you are distracted in class, look around the classroom and notice things you maybe take for granted or fail to see, hear or feel. Take a walk, and don’t let your mind wander, but instead be mindful of the path you are walking on, the trees and flowers around you and the expressions on people’s faces as you walk by them.
Listen to a song and actually think about the words being sung; read a book and visualize the scene or subject. Instead of being distracted and doing things mindlessly, make sure to fill your day with mindfulness, live in the present moment and take advantage of the time you have right now.