Mindfulness is simply being aware that we are always present. The future doesn’t exist yet and the past shouldn’t matter because there is nowhere else to be at one present moment except in that present moment. The reading touches on the fact that we are always looking ahead and anticipating and wanting the next moment to happen and the future to come faster, and therefore we forget to notice what we are presently doing. Our western culture almost revolves around planning towards the future and pushing towards what we can accomplish rather than what we have already accomplished, or what we are presently accomplishing, even if that accomplishment is simply being at peace for a minute.
The reading talks about how people try meditation and expect to get something out of it. I can definitely relate to wanting to get something out of meditating and being somewhat disappointed at the end.
Jon Kabat-Zinn says that the best way to get somewhere (referring to meditation) is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all. That helped me better understand the purpose of meditation. In my experience meditation and mindfulness is a lot harder than it seems. I think because our culture also revolves around staying occupied and being entertained at all times, it is difficult to stay silent and motionless and simply concentrate on the now, or not concentrate on anything at all and just be. Aside from meditation though, I do think that mindfulness does enhance the enjoyment of everyday living. When I’m bored, or in a place I don’t want to be, and I find myself wanting to be somewhere else, doing something else, I’ve started to make an effort to realize that wanting something I cant have only makes the situation worse, and if I try and sit and accept where I am, and just be where I am, it makes things a lot easier and better.