Want Life to Excite You Again? Brush Your Teeth the Wrong Way.
But yet you did, in a way. You drove home with your mind closed.
We are creatures of habit. We tend to choose the familiar- shop at the same store, buy the same brands, drive the same route. We even brush our teeth the same way every morning!
But when we fall into this comfortable habit train, we stop seeing things while we just move on autopilot. We are the opposite of present, we are so far elsewhere that we do not even have a memory on how we got home! It is as if our minds are so damn bored that they were forced to conjure up an adventure to counteract the mundane of our same ole' daily existence.
I am guilty of staying too long in a toxic relationship because even the unhappy now felt safer than an unknown future. Many times I made mental plans to leave, but it always seemed easier to stay than finding the strength to face the unknown.
Change is always difficult, but change is a natural occurrence, and we only suffer when we stand in its way.
We feel comfortable and safe and know what we are getting when we settle, so we overlook the fact that we are unhappy.
Ones our minds don't have to take a vacation from.
So how do we do this?
Be Aware of the Mundane
Start by noticing all the things you do every day out of habit, and acknowledging how they make you feel. Start with the little things like your morning routine. Your am grooming habits, breakfast, and even coffee- do you make the same kind of coffee the same way each morning? Do you make the same breakfast each day because it's faster? Really consider how you feel while doing these habitual things.
Experiment
After you have identified what you do the same, identify ways you can do the things differently yet achieve the same, or better results. Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. It is more difficult than you think! You may find you reach spots differently, but it'll surely make you laugh! Try a new shower routine, or a new brand of coffee or breakfast. Drive a different way. Add something like 20 pushups.
Branch out and start doing things differently in other parts of your life. Instead of your normal Saturday night Netflix bingewatch, go see a local production or check out a hot new spot. The possibilities are endless!
The most important thing here is to be mindful of how each thing makes you feel.
Continue to switch up your normal paths. Add new things into your normal everyday life. Try things you normally wouldn't. Try a new recipe for a foreign dish for dinner. Experiment with a new hobby. Take a roadtrip one weekend without a plan.
When you become more mindful, you become more present, and each experience in your life will be richer and more fulfilling.
Brush your teeth the wrong way. It'll give you an insight into creating a life your mind does not have to take a vacation from.
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My sister and I were discussing this just the other day. How easy it is to go into auto mode and just fast forward through this thing we call life. Your title made me giggle with the brushing teeth backwards I was intrigued as to how one would do that. The non dominate hand didn't even enter my mind. Lol. Thanks for the incite!
Lol, glad you liked it :)
Hi @arbitrarykitten
The biggest efficiency of brain is habbits.
They are the shortcuts build for decreasing the necessary processing power to do tasks and increase efficiency.
This is efficient but not perfect.
This is all the root of prejudice and conservation.
Once you start to question your habbits, the doors of a whole new world openes.
You start to question, this leads to efficient thinking and this is the start of critical thinking process.
Questioning...
One very important point, our brains are too much busy with its own inner voice - i call it noise-
When you look from above, you find yourself not in the moment but in the past and in the future.
To start questioning one must be aware of the moment and this is the most difficult part.
source
Stay positive.
FD.
Ah, yes. I write about critical thinking a lot too, I feel it is severely lacking in our society today.
Well said
I became a certified hypnotist many years ago. That zoned out state is actually a mild hypnotic state, and people like me can do things to people in that state... things that would alarm them greatly. I do not do it, I do not play with hypnosis after I learned what I learned... But MINDFULNESS is how you keep control of your own, well, mind. "Zone out" when YOU want, while meditating, working on your art piece. My vote power is shot, tip!
I've read into this much. Including the mind experiments of the 40's and 50's... Scary stuff indeed. But it can also be used for good, such as to be free from addictions, correct?
It can, but you are really best to "self hypnotize." The hypnotist plays upon the very basic, instinctive trust of father and mother figures, plays on the most child-like portion of your consciousness. And once one hypnotist has been inside your head, other hypnotists can use the "seeds" they planted. It is really quite creepy, I will not even attend a comedy club hypnosis act any more.
Woah. I have a very active and far reaching imagination... So you can imagine where my mind is going with this information! The implications of this are probably even more frightening than my brain can create...
If you really want to delve, take the course in this link. It is free, but once you start you are "on the clock" to finish or they cut you off. Average Joe Blow will get some good information. Awake people will see between the lines. I was actually taking the class when I "red pilled." My learning curve was kinda rude... lol!
https://hypnosis.edu/
Cool, thanks for the link.
I have always been trepiditious with hypnosis- other people wandering around in my mind. I never felt comfortable with the thought, yet the subject fascinates me and I know it works...
Good instincts. tip!
Thanks doll <3
Hi @arbitrarykitten! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @fishyculture!
Check out new tipuvote! feature :)
How does one self hypnotize? Is there a good, proven technique?
I would be hard pressed to describe a difference between self hypnosis and meditation. Those early meditation tricks should all work, visualize yourself walking down the stairs and counting as you go; or relax your toes, then your arches, then your ankles... You just add a background "mantra" of the brainseed you want to plant, preferably worded in the proactive. Rather than "I will quit smoking" go with "I will bring maximum health to my lungs."
I do something quite like that with my creative visualization. I first learned from Shakti Gawain, and hold fast to most of her teachings. I always affirm in the present. It works! Last month I hosted the #ManifestChallenge and what I needed most was $. So I came up with a number that my boys and I could comfortably live on $3162 per month. I did not get that that month, but my income did increase, but this month YES!
Very cool. I have never heard of Shakti Gawain, will definitely be checking her out!
Congratulations.
I have my "most awake self" that is often called crazy... OK by me... :) I feel the concept of abundant currency, which crypto makes real, is the key to a truly r3VOLutionary change. Handling our personal awareness is how we take over the world... Pinky...
YES! I feel the very same ;)
F.U.R.R. for the Kitten :D
Follow, up-vote, reply, resteem!
I needed this! Kinda in a rut. :P
FURR... :) Kitten likes ;)
I am happy to be of help <3
I wish for the rut to be a memory you laugh nervously about and quickly change the subject in the very near future ;)
Oh, it's a good 'rut' but I just need to vary life a bit. I am 'steeming along' and making some really good money online, cryptos and all that, but I need to increase some IRL activities. I am currently unemployed, (no big deal, I prepared for it and it allows me to be online more) I just need to get some things done around here and keep physically active, to avoid the Winter Blues and BLAHs :D Your wish is still appropriate, as I can change the subject to what I did to fix it!
Thanks, A.K.! I foresee this as a productive 'follow' :-)
A very interesting and well written post. I used to drive a lot when I was still working so I can identify with the lost time syndrome. If you are to make any changes to your life it is necessary to change ingrained habits and reprogram that part of your mind that has become stuck in a rut. This is very important when dealing with addictions. Before beginning work on overcoming an addiction it is imperative to completely change the processes that lead up to triggers that spark the addiction event. Break the habits, drive home a different way, eat at a different time or go to bed an hour earlier or later. Well that's my five cents worth. Have a great 2018.
I was just talking with a friend on how the rehabs in USA are set up for failure, they send the person home after several weeks, thought back into the exact same life and patterns...
I took part in an experimental program that centered around mindfulness a couple of years ago. The homework between modules was rewarding but as someone else mentioned, awareness in a single moment before a default response has already happened? Once attempted, the task just doesn't seem reasonable. It takes a lot of practice - to be present in this moment. Sad words but less important than simply coming back to this moment, right now, repeatedly. Thanks for the reminder!
Let me see if I understand this- the task does not seem reasonable once you have reminded yourself to be mindful of the present?
I didn't explain that very well, sorry. I meant that in the context of a particular exercise (among several) which definitely required being present in the moment. Another facet was emotion regulation. The challenge was tricky at times, extending into daily activity, catching my "default responses", which could be an action or even a subtle emotional reflex, at the very moment it is being triggered. So this is about bringing more awareness when your attention is already occupied and less likely to break a response pattern (but more likely to rely on them).
@arbitrarykitten Now I have to wake UP tomorrow and do everything differently. I thought FRIDAY was going to be a breeze. No Way not after you posted this stuff.................
There I go again, shaking things up ;)
I love this article.
Live in the past and you get depressed and live in the future and you get anxiety. There is only one time to live - NOW. But that is also the problem. Our brains do not want that! They want auto-pilot.
But I have something to say about auto pilot: sometimes it is good to have routines. I have my morning routine with my dogs and I have an evening routine with them. These routines ensure I open or lock doors and have they a lot to do with our safety.
So even though change can be good, we do not have to change everything. Just as long as we are aware.
Definitely. Routines are good. Keep the ones that serve you well, but the useless, mundane ones can be switched and changed to keep your mind active and sharp :)
That is so true -and that is the exiting part of life
My mind and body don't like routines! I hate waking up every day at the same time, going to bed at the same time! I feel really stressed out! So when I start feeling like this I change something on my days, do some gardening, cook an exotical dinner, go for a walk and pay attention to little details... I'm really grateful for the signs my body sends me or else my life would pass by and I wouldn't have lived it in the present. There's so much beauty to appreciate while we're here...
You are blessed with a gift that naturally forces you to be present! That is amazing!
Never thought about it that way! :) Thank you!
You are very welcome hun :)
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