“Happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like and enjoying it for everything that it is.”
I have to be honest...my life has been pretty darn busy lately. Not only did I launch this site, but I also immediately jumped into publishing a 6-week series about mindfulness. And on top of that I’m putting together a free 3-week mindfulness challenge. To make things even more interesting, I started all this a couple of days before I had surgery to get my gallbladder removed. That probably sounds like a good amount of extra-curricular activities, right? Well apparently, not quite.
In addition to having surgery and launching a new website, I also decided that I would get back on track writing a novel that I started at the beginning of the year, which basically means that I spend every morning writing in some form or another. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! I’m majorly grateful that I can do all this on top of having a full-time job.
But now I think I may have taken on one too many things, because as of yesterday I officially started house hunting! Which in and of itself is a huge deal, mainly because I’ve never bought a house before and also because I live in Denver, which has a notoriously crazy housing market right now.
So yeah…I think I can officially say that I am at my max capacity. Which is a place that pretty much everyone can relate to, right? I feel like everyone I know is pushing themselves beyond the limit to make life happen. Whether it’s a job or kids or having some semblance of a social life (or maybe all the above), we are all operating at top speed. Sound familiar?
I went on a walk this afternoon to get some fresh air and it occurred to me that I would usually be majorly stressed right now with everything I have on my plate at the moment. And yet, even though I’m busier than I have been in a very long time, I am hardly stressed out. It’s kind of amazing!
How is that possible?
The main reason why I’m handling all this extra pressure right now is because I’m practicing mindfulness every day, sometimes without even realizing it. Now, instead of panicking when I didn’t even have a draft of my blog written by the time it’s usually live on my site, I simply sat down and started writing. It might not end up being the most polished blog post I’ve published, but that’s okay.
And like I mentioned before, a lot of my mindfulness is coming to me as second nature these days, simply because I’ve been practicing it consistently for months. And that practice is totally paying off, in the best way possible! I’m busier than ever, but somehow I’m not stressed. I have a million things to think about, but somehow I’m keeping everything straight without writing out mile-long to-do lists for myself. It's all flowing the way it's supposed to.
Sounds nice, right?
You might be wondering how all this is possible. Trust me, it didn’t happen overnight. But even though it takes some time to see big payoffs, practicing mindfulness can start having some pretty incredible positive impacts right away.
Here are the 3 most surprising mindfulness benefits you can begin to see almost immediately:
1. Your mind is quieter and you have more room to think.
After I spent about a week practicing mindfulness, I started to notice some big changes in my thought patterns. It sounds weird, but it was starting to feel like my brain had gotten bigger somehow. I know...that’s odd, right? But it’s true! I felt like my thinking was so much clearer and I suddenly was able to process my thoughts much easier, with a whole lot less effort.
2. It gets easier and easier to hit the “pause button” of life.
Another amazing benefit of practicing mindfulness is that you learn to slow down your thoughts and eventually you’ll find yourself hitting the “pause button” a few times a day. And usually you come out of these moments feeling refreshed and more alive, almost like having an amazing nap. When you first start working on mindfulness, you might need to set reminders for yourself to take these quiet moments for yourself. But again, your brain quickly learns how good it feels to take a break and it will start doing it automatically.
3. It’s actually a lot of fun to just let go.
For me, one of the best parts of mindfulness is that you learn to weed out the stuff that doesn’t matter, which means you have a whole lot more brain power for the things that DO matter. And the best part is that once your mind learns how good it feels to let go of those negative thoughts, it will start doing it automatically, which leaves you with a whole lot more energy to keep thinking positive thoughts. It’s kind of like a snowball effect, in the best kind of way!
Personally, I would think getting even one of these benefits would be enough motivation to start practicing mindfulness. But the fact that all three of these are possible makes it pretty much a no-brainer, right?
I hope this blog post was helpful! Stay tuned for next week’s post when I’ll be sharing my own personal journey with mindfulness. I’ll be talking all about how it has literally changed my life.
Also, feel free to share this post with someone who might enjoy this topic or want to start building a more mindful life.
Until then, sending all the light & love your way,
Beth ♡
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