So mindfulness; sounds simple enough right? Live in the moment more, focus on the here and now not what is coming up or what happened in the past. But that's what we as a human race do right? I know I do, I am always dwelling on my mistakes - even ones from years and years ago - winding myself up or upsetting myself at things that have happened or that I might have done and can't change. I am also one for looking ahead too, no there is nothing wrong with having plans to look forward to but to be constantly wishing the time away and counting down the days to a weekend away, a holiday, a night out - what a waste of life. No wonder time flies. We are so busy looking ahead we are ignoring the here and now. We aren't savouring what is going on in our lives RIGHT NOW.

My job is going well at the moment.
I won £30 on the lottery.
My diet is going well.
I really like how I have done my make up today.
My neighbours are actually REALLY nice.
The living room is really coming along nicely, I am loving how it looks.

What have all the above thoughts got in common? They are all thoughts that - give or take their subject - we all think of from time to time but are probably a throw away thought; they make us happy when we think of them and then as quickly as we have thought of them they fall out of our head again. SAVOUR THEM. What is wrong with enjoying the simple things in life?

What about:

Nothing. Nothing is really going on in my life right now. 

That isn't a bad thing! You could be having job worries, financial worries, a huge plumbing bill all of a sudden.... enjoy the calmness for nothing stays the same!

Nowadays, I find myself taking time to really appreciate what I have got so I remember it when something crappy happens or I have an awful day.

I love my home. I love how I have decorated it and love every room.
I love where I live and our neighbours.
I love my simple life - boring as it may be to others it is perfect for me.
I love quiet time in the bath when it is just me and i'm relaxed.
I love quiet time on the sofa slobbing out with hubby.
I love date nights with hubby, even if they are just a nice dinner indoors.

All simple things right? But all things that are present in my life now. I no longer constantly think about what is to come even if it is something really exciting. I look forward to it yes but don't obsess about it. I don't have it on my mind all the time and wake up feeling as though the only reason this present day exists is just to get me closer to my weekend away  / night out / holiday.

*Photo sourced from Pinterest.

I actually used to find that because I sometimes look forward to stuff too much and spend all my time thinking about it, dreaming and fantasising how it will all plan out that it never lives up to my expectations and I am disappointed. Anyone else get that?

Take time in your day, no matter how busy, to look at your life as it is now and appreciate what is happening even if it is bad. Nothing ever stays the same. EVER. Good times change, bad times change. If things are awful now and you cannot see any way out, it WILL NOT be this way forever. If you are on top of the world in your job or just in general, it WILL NOT stay this way forever. We all know this subconsciously. Mindfulness is about accepting the here and now.

*Photo sourced from Pinterest.

Once you start to do this more it go hand in hand with positive thinking. You will still get upset, you will still get angry but you deal with those emotions better. You will look at things much more logically and hopefully more calmly. You will feel better.

I think this is why we look back on the past through rose tinted glasses you know? Because it is gone. Because we were there living it but not paying attention to what we were doing, and it is only now that it is gone that we appreciate what a good time we were having or how easy things were, how good we looked or the friends we had at that time. Only now that that life is gone, we appreciate it - but it is too late, it is the past.

Appreciate now.