And how you might be stopping yourself feeling happy every day
Hi lovely people
I want to tell you about a mistake I made with my older daughter Florence which PERFECTLY demonstrates how mindfulness makes us happier.
It was Matilda's first birthday over the weekend (how did that happen?!) and we had a little party to celebrate.
Now Florence adores her cousin Dylan, and he was due to attend 🥳
And because I knew she'd be so excited, I told her that he was coming...
I know how wonderful it is to look forward to something in the future
But while I told her with the best intentions, when Florence knows she's going to see Dylan, nothing else matters.
Every time the doorbell went, Florence would run shouting "DYLAN!!" at the top of her lungs...
Only to be grossly disappointed that it was "only Auntie Em", and then "only Nanny and Grandad" and then "only Uncle Al" 🙈
All people that she absolutely loves and would normally be greeted with yelps of delight and "LOOK MUMMY, UNCLE AL IS HERE!!" 🥰
Kids are normally naturally mindful, naturally watching what is in front of them and not worrying about the past and future (it's one reason they're so happy so often).
But she was so focused on an event in the future, that she couldn't find any joy in things she normally loved 😓
So something for you to think about today.
How often is focusing on something fun in the future,
robbing you of enjoying life right now?
Whether that's counting down the hours until you leave work, the days to the weekend or the weeks until the holiday - what are you missing when you do this?
Because this weekend, little Florence missed SO many opportunities for joy, simply because she was focused on one event in the future.
Now, this is only ONE part of how mindfulness make you happier - by focusing on the present moment.
It's the part of mindfulness I practised for YEARS and which made a massive difference.
It's probably the part you're most familiar with.
But there times it doesn't work.
What if the present moment is unpleasant and you're focusing on the future because that's what's getting you through?
Next week, I've got part 2 of "how to enjoy more of life right now" which breaks down exactly how mindfulness helps you enjoy more of life, EVEN when the present moment is unpleasant.
It's something which I don't see other coaches talking about and it is LIFE-CHANGING in enjoying more of life.
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I can't wait to share it with you all.
Sending you all lots of love
Lucy
PS.
With the prospect of summer holidays and longer evenings on the horizon, it's easy to start counting down the days until things are "better and easier".
So firstly, WATCH out for this!
And if you want support in enjoying the life in front of you, while STILL looking forward to events in the future (of course you'd rather be on holiday in the sun than at work), I can help you do that.
Together we'll create a 7-step MINDFUL ™ plan that makes mindfulness a way of living, in less than 10 minutes a day.
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