There is this unpleasant feeling again. For this moment, you don’t know how to get rid of it. If you knew how, you would made it go already. Does it make sense to continue fighting it, to judge it, to zoom in on it?

No. So it's time to make a switch, from the 'change' mode to the 'acceptance' mode.

How do you do that, switching modes? Not by a different kind of doing (that starts the cycle all over again) but by a different kind of attention.

Our attention works like a beam of light. It can be very hard and focused, but it can also be embracing and encompassing, in which case experiences can look very different. How you pay attention to this moment determines the quality of this moment.

All you need to do is find that inner switch and shift to a more forgiving and accepting mode of perception. Instead of "This has to change," simply observe it quietly and calmly. Instead of "This has to go," simply give it some space.

How we perceive the present moment makes the difference between AU and WOW. Isaac Shapiro

Making this switch doesn't require time or energy. It only requires an intention, a mindful intention. This will help you shift your perceptual mode.

Tension, a stressed feeling, headache, gloomy thoughts, a wave of emotions – the experience remains the same, but if you look at it differently, the colour may change.

How you perceive the present moment determines how it feels. It makes all the difference between au and wow.


Author: Rob Brandsma, From ‘Elke dag mindfulness’, Scriptum Uitgeverij.

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