The Importance Of Mindfulness In My Life

I have gone through life in a well-timed, planned, expected, somewhat well-adjusted manner and because of my need to be predictable and steadfast, I have found myself many times thinking of the past, planning for my future, but rarely living in the present. Around twenty years of age I began a search for a way of life to help calm my wandering mind and find a focal point and bring a higher quality of life. Studying Buddhist philosophy involving mindfulness has centered my life and brought focus onto a drifting soul. Mindfulness has grounded me, and has helped me live a fuller, richer life. It is challed to bring mindfulness into daily living. Taking one’s mind out of the dark abyss of self-doubt, worries, greed, hatred and delusion takes patience and self-love. This value of mindfulness teachings over the years came while doing my first outdoor rock climb.
Climbing outdoors had enough differences from my indoor climbing I needed an experienced …show more content…
One at a time, foot hand, foot hand, I propelled myself up the side of the cliff. While climbing in the gym, I could always focus on the climb itself, and I did not expect this climb to be any different. I expected this outdoor climb to permit me hyper-focus, a meditative state that would allow my mind to be only in the present, a state of mind making the Buddha proud. “Ha,” I thought it was funny for me to mix delusion of pride with the Buddha. Pride, a delusion of the mind according to my Buddhist teachings. As I continued to climb, the Buddha’s “Four Noble Truths” clamored through my head, “The truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the right path to end suffering.” Mindfulness and concentration, a state of mind I often sought, was eluding me. A feeling of frustration over my never-ending search for a peace of mind, the emotion of failing was making me