Mindfulness Monday (11/9/21)

By: Jordyn Bouer-Myers

Old patterns don’t give up easily. They will try to keep pulling you into reactions that lead into repeating the past. In time, after not feeding into them for a while and continually practicing the ability to pause and respond, they will weaken and make it easier to let go. They will still appear as an option, but they will not have the same strength as before. This will be the turning point, the shift that changes everything. It is the victory that becomes clear that you’ve moved beyond the past and into a new life where you have matured enough to intentionally be your own person.

Expectations tend to cause great misery for an individual. We are constantly creating narratives of how we want things to be and how we want those around us to act. These narratives inevitably lead to disappointment because the things we often crave are centered around unrealistic expectations, circumstances far beyond our control, and with all the randomness of the external world.

We are constantly forgetting that what unites us as people is our ignorance and room for improvement. Each of us carry conditioning that consistently clouds our perspective. The time we spend on Earth is a daily opportunity to overcome mental limitations such as unforgiving expectations and a desire to control everything- limitations that hinder us from complete freedom and happiness.

As we do the regular work of examining our inner world, it is unfair for others to expect perfection from us and for us to expect perfection from others, especially when “perfect” often means having others fulfill our every desire. In a world full of imperfect people, patience, forgiveness and acceptance becomes essential.