New Years Resolution - Mindfullness

[57stratdawg]

I know everyone loves to make New Years Resolutions to eat better, or sleep better, or save money, etc. However, I would challenge you to consider the one skill that can truly improve your experience as a Father, Husband, Brother, Employee, Boss - that’s Mindfullness.

Mindfullness is the practice of focusing your attention on your conscious experience (sights, sounds, sensations, etc.) rather than your thoughts and emotions. This skill is sharpened through a meditation practice. People often have a misconception that Mindfullness / meditation are a practice of doing something. It’s not. It’s the complete opposite. It’s the act of doing absolutely nothing. It’s the practice of truly observing your conscious experience as it is and not being distracted by the next thought.

If you want something like 5,000% of the bad stuff in your life to go away - learn to control your mind and recognize how out of control it is. It can be the difference between being mad for 5 minutes and 5 seconds. No diet or added savings account will ever be able return any thing as powerful.

 

[57stratdawg]

‘Waking Up’ is a great app for practicing. You could literally use their beginning course for the rest of your life. Here’s a 30 day free trial below. The app is behind a paywall, but you can ask for a free code if you want to keep practicing:


I’ve been using Waking Up and really enjoying it. I wanted to offer you 30 days free! No credit card required.

Guest Pass | Waking Up

Discover a new operating system for your mind—with step-by-step guidance from Sam Harris, practical wisdom from renowned experts, and courses focused on life’s most important questions.

dynamic.wakingup.com

 

[3-2 Dawg]

 

[T-TownDawgg]

People often have a misconception that Mindfullness are a practice of doing something. It’s not. It’s the complete opposite. It’s the act of doing absolutely nothing. It’s the practice of truly observing your conscious experience as it is and not being distracted by the next thought.

Jeff Lebby when the game is on the line:

 

[ugabully]

I think some folks are going to be dismissive because of the woo aspect of how it's often described, but especially if you are stressed and have a hard time pivoting to paying attention to your loved ones when you get home, practicing how to reset yourself by being 100 in the current moment, IS really a good things.

It also doesn't require buying in to a weird belief system in a broader way. You can just learn how to control your focus and slow yourself down.

And because it can reduce the physical symptoms of stress, it can be good for your health and blood pressure, even if you are a committed State fan.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I think some folks are going to be dismissive because of the woo aspect of how it's often described, but especially if you are stressed and have a hard time pivoting to paying attention to your loved ones when you get home, practicing how to reset yourself by being 100 in the current moment, IS really a good things.

Pardon the glibness, but I’m dismissive of it for the opposite reason:

It’s family life that’s stressful.

Those of y’all with octogenarians in your lives might be nodding your heads right now…

Work life is a breeze by comparison…

And because it can reduce the physical symptoms of stress, it can be good for your health and blood pressure, even if you are a committed State fan.

I detached my emotions from many State athletics several years ago.

Despite what many people say or feel, Bulldog Fandom is not a matter of life or death for me…

 

[ugabully]

Pardon the glibness, but I’m dismissive of it for the opposite reason:

It’s family life that’s stressful.

Those of y’all with octogenarians in your lives might be nodding your heads right now…

Work life is a breeze by comparison…



I detached my emotions from many State athletics several years ago.

Despite what many people say or feel, Bulldog Fandom is not a matter of life or death for me…

Mindfulness can help with any kind of stress for whatever that's worth.

I can't figure out the right about of caring about MSU sports. I want to enjoy feeling connected to it and enjoy the successes, but I hate that losses suppress my mood and that I'm actually capable of worrying about the directions of college athletics because I care about the Bulldogs.

 

[HotMop]

‘Waking Up’ is a great app for practicing. You could literally use their beginning course for the rest of your life. Here’s a 30 day free trial below. The app is behind a paywall, but you can ask for a free code if you want to keep practicing:


I’ve been using Waking Up and really enjoying it. I wanted to offer you 30 days free! No credit card required.

Guest Pass | Waking Up

Discover a new operating system for your mind—with step-by-step guidance from Sam Harris, practical wisdom from renowned experts, and courses focused on life’s most important questions.

dynamic.wakingup.com

Do you sell coffee as a side gig?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Mindfulness can help with any kind of stress for whatever that's worth.

Perhaps so for most people.

I find that mindfulness doesn’t work for me because with my ocd I often dwell on things…

I can't figure out the right about of caring about MSU sports. I want to enjoy feeling connected to it and enjoy the successes, but I hate that losses suppress my mood and that I'm actually capable of worrying about the directions of college athletics because I care about the Bulldogs.

What with the things that are going on in my life, I have to be detached from MSU sports.

With family life being stressful, I don’t want even more stress from sports fandom.

What disposable income I have goes towards happiness… specifically concerts.

I suppose that makes me more of a fan of live music therapy.

 

[Villagedawg]

‘Waking Up’ is a great app for practicing. You could literally use their beginning course for the rest of your life. Here’s a 30 day free trial below. The app is behind a paywall, but you can ask for a free code if you want to keep practicing:


I’ve been using Waking Up and really enjoying it. I wanted to offer you 30 days free! No credit card required.

Guest Pass | Waking Up

Discover a new operating system for your mind—with step-by-step guidance from Sam Harris, practical wisdom from renowned experts, and courses focused on life’s most important questions.

dynamic.wakingup.com

2nd Waking Up

 

[Shmuley]

Jeff Lebby when the game is on the line:

View attachment 1111501

 

[Herbert Nenninger]

Slight hijack. Does anyone else think Curt Cignetti looks like Brian Reagan?

 

[The Peeper]

Jeff Lebby when the game is on the line:

View attachment 1111501

 

[onewoof]

Focus on daily, hourly gratitude and humility. Most people living in first world countries are completely bankrupt of these two crucial virtues.

 

[Dawgg]

I always fall asleep when I try to meditate.

 

[HRMSU]

I always fall asleep when I try to meditate.

Yep, it's great for that too. The military sleep method is very similar to what you do during meditation but with a slightly different goal ( go to sleep fast in a stressful environment).

 

[Duggar Hall Desk]

Perhaps so for most people.

I find that mindfulness doesn’t work for me because with my ocd I often dwell on things…



What with the things that are going on in my life, I have to be detached from MSU sports.

With family life being stressful, I don’t want even more stress from sports fandom.

What disposable income I have goes towards happiness… specifically concerts.

I suppose that makes me more of a fan of live music therapy.

No stress relief methodology is going to work for every single person. I am on board for trying mindfulness to see if it will work, but if you've tried it and it doesn't help, I applaud you for finding something else that works for you.

 

[HRMSU]

Do you sell coffee as a side gig?

I get it. I use to laugh at this stuff until I went through a pretty solid program during a mid life career crisis. It works but it's like the gym or even church. The further away from it you get the less it works for you. You have to work it routinely to get the most out of it and it's so easy to slide out of it (like gym and church).

Be honest and try this simple exercise on someone or someone on you. Close your eyes and think of one of the worst things that's happened in your life. Focus on it for a solid minute noting how it impacted you. Feelings, anger, reputation....whatever. Open your eyes and describe how you feel.....spoiler alert it will not be good.

Now, do the same thing for a positive event that has occurred in your life. After a minute focusing on this event you will have the opposite physical and emotional reaction. What changed? You are still in the same spot minutes from the other exercise and the events were in your past. What changed was your thoughts....that's the power of the mind. So, if you can control your thoughts, which you just did in a micro based exercise, you can control everything else. Doesn't mean everything will be unicorns and rainbows but gives you concrete proof and a toolset to help move towards being at the control (cause) of what happens to you and not the victim (effect) of what happens to you.

I've been really good at this at times but recently I've gone backwards quite a bit and it's super frustrating because like the gym and church it works for me and I know it but I'm not doing it at a level I should.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Mindfulness... Meditation ehhh. If that's your solution, go for it. Here's mine.

You create or control your own destiny every single day. You want to be closer to your family, take the kids out of school, grab the wife and go do something amazing. For no reason other than you said so.

Tried of the 9-5? Do something about it. Take a risk. Go work your azz off for a few years and start your own business. Leave your comfort zone. There's opportunity everywhere, seize it.

Get the 17 away from momma and dem. There's a whole world out there full of exciting places, people, and opportunity. You can talk to your family everyday on the phone and get a plane ticket anywhere.

The ticket for me is not trying to forget about all your worries and stress .. it's eliminating them.

---

Not trying to poop on your post or what works for you 57. It just feels like a way to cope to me. I say change the way you live not how you deal with life.

I am surrounded by all these weird California Conservatives who are all froo froo as 17. They go to rock and roll churches and claim to love Jesus but live like Herod, get their wives lips filled with lead, dudes thread their eyebrows and moisturize with tats everywhere... Real new age ghey shìt with Trump flags flying everywhere. It's 17ing bizzaro world.

They're constantly hawking some new self help method to make your life better. I shìt you not in the last three months at our community clubhouse you can take classes on how to build your 2026 vision board, breathwork (yes. breathing), somatic experiencing (whatever the 17 that is), and a sound bath session...

You want tranquility. Go fishing. Somewhere even if you don't catch anything it's so 17ing beautiful and quiet it doesn't matter. You want to feel like you're alive, do something that makes you recognize your mortality. Nothing makes me feel more alive than rafting through a class 5 in early summer when the water is still cold enough to take your breath away.

Quit over scheduling the kids and go play with them. Shìt, we spent this past week of Christmas break playing some serious àss football. Hours everyday. I was full time QB and my boys took turns at WR and DB. They had more fun doing that than they ever have in organized play.

Go live man. Break the monotony. Work hard, live hard, and play hard. Do things with your wife and kids they'll never forget. Get outside, a lot. Go hiking. Buy a kayak. Get a mountain bike. Shìt go buy a horse and find some stables and start trail riding.

And when you're metrosexual, pays someone to mow his lawn, botoxed forehead, jacked up truck driving to go nowhere without asphalt, douchebag neighbor pulls out of the garage in his $12,000 led lit chrome wheeled golf cart with a french bulldog in his lap and blaring Morgan Wallen to go to the community clubhouse to pick his kids up from the pool and his wife from her sound bath... You smile and nod your head. Then pop the tailgate and let the kids and your lab jump in the back of the truck and your wife is up front, your rolling to the river with the windows down jamming to Seger. One of those guys needs to practice mindfulness, the other just needs a cooler of cold beer and a portable grill.


ETA. Does the mindfulness solve the despair one might feel from Mississippi State Athletics? If so, forget the rest of it and sign me up.

 

[grinningmule]

The more I browse social media and see people out there who are absolutely consumed with and let politics rule their life the more I am glad I chopped my "friends" list down to family and few real friends.
- Go out and touch some grass.
-Enjoy what is around you. Case in point:
I was trudging along a hiking trail outside of Zion earlier this week looking at my feet and trying not to collapse from a heart attack when I stopped, looked up and said "damn, this is some beautiful scenery. Well, at least if I die right now it will be with this background." Enjoy the little things.

 

[ugabully]

Mindfulness... Meditation ehhh. If that's your solution, go for it. Here's mine.

You create or control your own destiny every single day. You want to be closer to your family, take the kids out of school, grab the wife and go do something amazing. For no reason other than you said so.

Tried of the 9-5? Do something about it. Take a risk. Go work your azz off for a few years and start your own business. Leave your comfort zone. There's opportunity everywhere, seize it.

Get the 17 away from momma and dem. There's a whole world out there full of exciting places, people, and opportunity. You can talk to your family everyday on the phone and get a plane ticket anywhere.

The ticket for me is not trying to forget about all your worries and stress .. it's eliminating them.

---

Not trying to poop on your post or what works for you 57. It just feels like a way to cope to me. I say change the way you live not how you deal with life.

I am surrounded by all these weird California Conservatives who are all froo froo as 17. They go to rock and roll churches and claim to love Jesus but live like Herod, get their wives lips filled with lead, dudes thread their eyebrows and moisturize with tats everywhere... Real new age ghey shìt with Trump flags flying everywhere. It's 17ing bizzaro world.

They're constantly hawking some new self help method to make your life better. I shìt you not in the last three months at our community clubhouse you can take classes on how to build your 2026 vision board, breathwork (yes. breathing), somatic experiencing (whatever the 17 that is), and a sound bath session...

You want tranquility. Go fishing. Somewhere even if you don't catch anything it's so 17ing beautiful and quiet it doesn't matter. You want to feel like you're alive, do something that makes you recognize your mortality. Nothing makes me feel more alive than rafting through a class 5 in early summer when the water is still cold enough to take your breath away.

Quit over scheduling the kids and go play with them. Shìt, we spent this past week of Christmas break playing some serious àss football. Hours everyday. I was full time QB and my boys took turns at WR and DB. They had more fun doing that than they ever have in organized play.

Go live man. Break the monotony. Work hard, live hard, and play hard. Do things with your wife and kids they'll never forget. Get outside, a lot. Go hiking. Buy a kayak. Get a mountain bike. Shìt go buy a horse and find some stables and start trail riding.

And when you're metrosexual, pays someone to mow his lawn, botoxed forehead, jacked up truck driving to go nowhere without asphalt, douchebag neighbor pulls out of the garage in his $12,000 led lit chrome wheeled golf cart with a french bulldog in his lap and blaring Morgan Wallen to go to the community clubhouse to pick his kids up from the pool and his wife from her sound bath... You smile and nod your head. Then pop the tailgate and let the kids and your lab jump in the back of the truck and your wife is up front, your rolling to the river with the windows down jamming to Seger. One of those guys needs to practice mindfulness, the other just needs a cooler of cold beer and a portable grill.


ETA. Does the mindfulness solve the despair one might feel from Mississippi State Athletics? If so, forget the rest of it and sign me up.

This last part about Mississippi State athletics should be a SixPack designed study in the fall.

As far as your other content, some of it is excellent in terms of making sure that you make time for the stuff that really matters to you and not jumping on dumb self-help trends, other parts are completely in keeping with mindfulness and meditation, like the being in nature parts, but then other parts of your comments don't work for some areas of life.

Some sources of stress are inescapable if you are a decent person. For example, are you going to quit caring for your elderly relatives when they need your help? If your spouse gets cancer, are you going to leave? If your kid is struggling? Are you going to leave every job that presents hard challenges? Not everything can or should be changed or escaped. Tools for handling it are good. Mindfulness can be one of those tools.

(Breathwork is actually one of the easiest ways to calm down, as woo as it might be to be taught it at your clubhouse.)