12.3.15 Shifting the Focus

Mindfulness is being fully present!

The question was posed after broadcast of yesterday’s violence, “Has the threat gotten that much worse, or has our awareness of the information changed?”   While some built backyard Bomb Shelters in the mid nineteen-fifties, public schools practiced local safety drills instructing us children to take cover under our desks.  Yet during those elementary school years, I heard of not one bomb going off, not anywhere.  Sixty years later, violent attacks on public gatherings are all-too frequent world-wide news-making headlines.

Repeated exposure to threats or detailed reports of tragedy can naturally produce fear if not anxiety and depression.  When reports of bad news are accompanied by blame and negative predictions, it can change our perception of people and of the world, but we must not let it change us.






Our valley experienced the disaster many losing their homes, animals, and possessions during summer 2015 wildfire storms.  Here are ways we learned for staying grateful, becoming more resilient, and growing closer as a community:

1.  Look for meaning in the routine events of ordinary daily life.

2.  Be mindful of feelings and thoughts.  Share what gives a sense of hope, and purpose.

3.  Reduce stress by saying no to anything that brings you down and saying yes to everything that       builds you up.

4.  Stay connected, reach out often to supportive people like close family, friends and neighbors.

5.  Actively participate in finding ways to help others get their needs met, especially the need for emotional support and encouragement.

6.  Reap rewards when helping by noticing goodness is multiplied for the giver and the receiver.

7.  Keep an open mind to look for and talk about possibilities for solutions.  Invest time and energy where you can assist with positive changes being made.

8. Make the biggest difference with the smallest acts of kindness and caring.

Whether violence in the world or wildfires in the backyard, when events become overpowering, and out of control around us, we can shift the focus.  We can shine the spotlight  of our attention to see where we are needed to bring a word of kindness, an act of caring, a prayer for peace.