Can Fidgety People Start a Mindfulness Practise?

By Irene Roth

Given our world of alacrity and technology, it is difficult for most of us to be mindful. We have to very diligently take ourselves out of the frey in order to cultivate even a few moments of quiet and stillness. Given this kind of world, it can be hard to start a mindfulness practice. But is it impossible?

I believe that given the state of our world, it is especially important to take steps to become more mindful. This is because mindlessness can cause a lot of undue anxiety and health problems down the road.

But what about the person who is anxious and mindless-- can such a person meditate or start a mindfulness practise? I believe that anyone can start a mindfulness practise, regardless of our current state of mind. And given the busy, plugged-in world that we all live in the midst of, I believe that it is especially important to develop a mindfulness practise.

In this article, I will show you how to start a mindfulness practise, even if you are fidgety. The best way to start is small and slow. Here are a few simple things you can try to be more mindful in your everyday world.

1. Start by being more mindful when you brush your teeth. Take some time to really look in the mirror at yourself. How do you look? What is the temperature in the room? How are you feeling as you brush your teeth? Are you tired? Sad? Depressed? Become conscious of how you are in this moment.

2. Become more conscious of your breath at different times of the day, such as when you are drinking a cup of coffee, or take a break, or going to the washroom. Try to choose activities that are routine, and when you know that you will be quite mindless, rehearsing different aspects of what happened already or will happen in the future.

3. Do a walking meditation for a minute at a time. You may want to start the practise at home when you won't be disturbed by the outside noise and seeing familiar faces as you walk outside. Be as precise as you can be. So, set a timer for one minute and see if you can be completely present to what you are doing at this moment. If you aren't, don't be too hard on yourself. Just keep bringing your attention to the moment when you realize that you are thinking of something else.

4. Try to eat mindfully. Turn off the television and all technological gadgets. If you are eating with another person, let the other person know that you will be trying to eat more mindfully a few times a week. Who knows, you may even inspire others to be more mindful while eating too.

5. Drink coffee or tea mindfully. Try to bring your attention fully to what you are doing which is drinking your cup of coffee or tea. Set a timer for one minute, and do nothing but drink your beverage. When the minute is over, you can lapse into other activities.

6. Do one thing at a time. Try not to multi-task for a while. Try and really pay attention to what you are doing at the time.

By taking these steps, you will become more mindful by doing everyday tasks mindfully. This is one important way to become more mindful.

Developing a mindfulness practise need not be difficult. However, it needs to be consistent. Try and start slow and small, but be consistent. Over time, you will develop mindfulness.

Irene S. Roth writes for teens, tweens, and kids about self-empowerment. She is the author of over fifty-five books and e-books and over one thousand online articles. She also has over two thousand published book reviews both online and in print. In addition, she published an e-book on how not to scattered in our culture. Please double click on this link for more information.   https://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Scattered-Mind-Twenty-First-Century-ebook/dp/B0193PC5L4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451453621&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Help Me, O Loving Gracious Merciful God - You Know What I Need, I Ask for Your Help Today

By Sandy Shaw

Knowing that God is good does not mean that He says "Yes" to every prayer request. If He did, hardly anyone would die!

No parent who truly loves a child will give the child everything the child wants.

When the request is wrong the answer is "No", and when the timing is wrong the answer may be "not yet". A delay is not a denial.

At the right time God sent Jesus Christ, His Son, into the world to save people from their sins.

The cross is the ultimate expression of God's love.

No one else has ever offered to pay for your sins, and no one ever will. Only Jesus Christ can take away your sins, and forgive whatever needs forgiveness.

After being crucified Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Not only does He take away sin, but He is willing to give us His goodness, or righteousness.

This is what the Gospel is all about. God gives us what we need, and not what we deserve.

If we blow it, and mess things up, God is willing to welcome us back. Over the years I have met very few people who, having messed things up, have repented and returned.

Our God is the God who gives men another opportunity - if they want it, and take it, and are prepared to do something about it.

All this was birthed when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

We can find mercy and grace to help us in our time and need.

Are you in any kind of need? Approach God with confidence - He will not turn you away, nor reject you.

If you come to Him, you will discover you cannot stop God loving you, no matter how hard you try.

You may find these last remarks difficult to accept and welcome and embrace. Many discover they are in that situation because they have a wrong idea or notion or understanding about Almighty God.

People can say all kinds of things at times for which there is no evidence.

People have their own ideas and when they share these thought we may pick them up all too easily.

It is good to check what people say and to check with the Scriptures as we have them in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

When people make time to read and take time to read and study God's Word there is invariably a rich blessing. God loves to bless those who seek Him. Discover that for yourself.

"Almighty heavenly Father - my God and my Saviour and my Lord - You know the help I need - You know what troubles my and bothers me - You know the questions I have and sometimes these questions may even be doubts. Help me O God. Help my to read the Bible. Help me to pray. Help me today. I need Your help. I ask for your help. I trust You to help me. I know You only have good gifts for Your children. Draw near now, and inspire me and strengthen me."

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland. He has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, 12 visits to Israel, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland", as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly.

Sandy Shaw.

Our Loving Gracious Heavenly Father Has Good Gifts for His Children - Embrace What He Has for You

By Sandy Shaw

Which is it to be? "This is the day that the Lord has made" or, this is the Lord that the day has made.

What do you think of, when you think of God?

Many have their own idea of God, and what God is like, and even how and when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born. Are we not surrounded and swamped by false notions which can be given to us by folk around us, and sometimes we swallow what they say? We have to check things out - always!

"I think of God like this." Actually, that does not matter. It is just an idea in your mind - an idol, or a figment of your imagination.

Why is this so crucially important? Well, it determines our destination and destiny once this life on earth is over, and in the meantime, our understanding of what God is really like shapes everything else, including how we pray.

The Psalmist teaches us that God is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on to each succeeding generation.

If God is not good then we have no reason to pray, but because God is good, God's plans for my life will always be good.

Everything is not good, but when put together by someone who knows what they are doing the result can be very different. On their own, various ingredients for a cake do not taste appetisingly good, but when expertly handled the consequences can be very different.

Joseph had a bad time over number of years. For a lengthy season much of his life was downhill. He ended up in prison, overlooked and neglected, and yet at the right time Joseph became Prime Minister in Egypt, saving the whole nation from starvation during a serious famine.

His brothers planned to harm him, but God turned evil plans into good.

What might those around you be trying to do to you to get you down?

What might be happening in your life that makes you feel like giving in or giving up?

What might be troubling you deeply and it has bothered you for some weeks and months and perhaps it has even bothered you for years?

There is an answer.

There could be more than one answer - but the one that really works is found in the love and mercy and grace and forgiveness and peace of Jesus Christ.

We have to choose at times.

We have to make choices, even whether or not we are going to reach out and take and embrace and receive the help that is available.

Be open and allow that soothing reassuring healing to touch every part of your being.

"Our loving gracious living God, come near now and minister to every part of my being. You know what I need at this very moment. I open myself to You and to You alone knowing that You only have good gifts for Your children."

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland. He has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, 12 visits to Israel, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland", as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly.

Sandy Shaw.

Solitude - Feared or Embraced

By D. Chetty

"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god." - Aristotle.

I have found that nothing turns a person cold more than the fear of being alone. I also venture to say that it's not so much the loneliness that we are afraid of, although it is there, but it's the fear of confronting who we really are, what we really are.

In this modern world, with all its demands, we are always complaining that we never have time to do the things that we want, time to relax, time to spend with the family. However, I am hard pressed to find anyone who wants time to get to know themselves, to confront their true natures and to become masters of themselves. The quiet scares us, the deafening silence that accompanies solitude seems to overwhelm us to the point that we are scared to touch it with a 20 foot pole. Therefore, even when we are alone we are plugged into iPods that have the latest top 40 hits or the latest self-help mp3. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way advocating against these things. They have their place but sometimes we need to switch off the external so that we can listen to the internal.

I honestly believe that for a person to become who they are truly meant to be, finding time to be alone, in the quietness and bliss; and the loudness and gut wrenching fear of solitude is up there among the most important things they will ever do on the road to being themselves.

In relationships it is often said that to get to know your partner you need to spend quality time with him or her, together, you must get to know who they are, what they like, what makes them tick, how they react to certain things. Making time to spend with your significant other is what makes or breaks a relationship most times. The sad thing is that people who don't truly know themselves, who have never spent quality time alone are trying to know someone else.

Suddenly we find ourselves in jobs we hate, relationships that we don't want, a life that is draining and we realise that we are not who we thought we were, we realise that we are the sum of the parts that everybody else thinks we are, all because we never truly knew ourselves; never took the time to find out how we want to do life.

The greatest thinkers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists etc. in history always made time to be alone, to confront themselves and to master themselves. The adage in carpentry "Measure twice and cut once," is what most of these people who changed the world did. They thought things through, found out who and what they are, what they wanted, how they wanted to do it and proceeded down a path to claim a place in history.

So, I urge you to take some time to be alone, at least a few minutes a day. Take that drive that has no destination, sit on the beach, walk that nature trail or just sit in your office, alone, just to be with yourself, shut out the external so that the internal can be heard. You will be surprised at the results. You will be shocked and awed at the same time. You will find creativity, solutions, ideas, heartache, bliss, war and peace.

Above all you will find yourself.

Check this article out on http://www.maniverse.net.