Attitude
- pwillywood
- Mar 20, 2023
- 1 min read
The attitude today is the root on which the future grows. – Sathya Baba.
Our attitude to life may be the only thing in our control. It is a powerful mental switch that changes the world by changing how we see it. Yet attitude is naturally quite hard to detect. It's something we inhabit and therefore can be difficult to see. Our attitude affects our thoughts, feelings and behaviours on a daily basis.
How often do you consider your attitude?
How would you describe your current attitude?
Becoming aware of our current attitude affords us the ability to transform it.
Mindfulness itself is based on the cultivation of certain attitudes. Being mindful we may find we're naturally inhabiting these attitudes, and when we inhabit these attitudes we may find we're being mindful.
The accepted definition of mindfulness is "knowing what is happening, while it is happening, without preference'. Our attitude is in the last part "without preference". So what are these attitudes? There are 8 of them, they are all interconnected and they all meet in the middle. They overlap like petals on the flower of mindfulness.
Non-Striving
Non-Striving presents as a kind of energy that is not quite happy with things as they are, that's always moving and needs the next thing to make us happy. This can be seen in the belief that we need to earn our place in this world, that we are not good enough unless we’re busy being productive.
Acceptance
Acceptance is the ability to allow things to be as they are. It’s supported by an awareness that the greatest changes can only occur once we’ve truly acknowledged our circumstances for what they are. Acceptance doesn’t mean we have to agree with or condone certain behaviours. It means we drop our inner resistance to things that are already what they are.
Patience
Patience gives life the space it needs to unfold, it acknowledges that our mind's desire to rush things is often rooted in fear and craving. It is a form of maturity that understands some of the best things in life happen over time and it is possible to enjoy the process.
Gratitude
Gratitude is about becoming aware of what we already have and the goodness that we are. Connecting with a sense of gratitude can help us to turn on the lights of optimism, to create space to turn things around in our thought process.
Non-judging
Non-judging is at the heart of mindfulness and compassion. When we cultivate non-judgment we recognise that things and people are as they are for a good reason, that we're all doing our best, and in any given situation, there is so much more we don't know than do. Judgment on the other hand naturally assumes things should be different than what they are, it is an argument with reality, and reality always wins.
Trust
Trust can cultivate peace in many areas of our lives. We can learn to trust this process of learning from life, we can learn to trust others to share our hurts and joys, and we can trust that fundamentally we are good people. Trust is the antidote to control.
A beginner's mind
A beginner's mind refers to the attitude of not knowing, of treating each moment and experience anew. As we go through life we fill our cups with judgments, assumptions and beliefs about how life is. We then live through those limitations. A beginners mind encourages us to empty the cup and start again, in every moment.
Letting go
Letting go of our past hurts frees us. If we don't let go then we are tied to the past and it gets heavier. It isn't easy but with practice we can begin to loosen the grip on those things that no longer serve us, and by doing so we free up our energy to create new moments how we would like them to be.
Yes, these are wonderful attitudes to live by, how do we go about developing them?
A regular mindfulness practice cultivates all of these attitudes.
This is the power of mindfulness and a huge part of my motivation to sit and practice everyday. It is important to remember these are qualities that we can cultivate and not a requirement to qualify as being mindful!
