I just read a great article on the characteristics of mindfulness, http://www.highexistence.com/mindfulness-is-misunderstood/. You might be surprised to know, if you are in a mindful state, you are NOT sitting and humming to yourself. Just the opposite is true. If you are mindful, you are paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgmental “as if your life depended on it.” Surprised? Sound familiar? If you have been reading the Bless Your Heart blogs, you recognize these same qualities are put into play when holding someone in your heart and/or sending them a blessing.
“If there is one prerequisite to being mindful, it’s that you need to be ‘in the moment’ if you’re going to notice the goings-on around you. That makes sense right? You can’t be off daydreaming, thinking of upcoming meetings, or fighting off dragons in a mental representation of Mordor and still be totally aware.” I call it being “conscious and accounted for”.
If I had been daydreaming as I looked into the meadow, I would have thought I had a few more horses grazing. Because I was conscious of my surroundings, I noticed, the other four legged animals were indeed elk, not equine. All were enjoying the meadow on the crisp spring morning. The horses were very mindful of the elk, not worried because they knew the elk were just moving through on their way to another meadow.
