July’s Mindfulness Challenge was incredibly eye-opening and probably one of the hardest ones to actually implement. It was my friend Nicholle’s idea, and big props to her because it is definitely something that I think all of us needed to work on! The goal was to choose to be mindful with our words, more specifically staying away from complaining and negative phrases. More often than we think we say things like “I wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow”, “I hate this traffic”, “this sucks”, “I wish I was on a beach somewhere” (me lol), etc. It is crazy how much power our words have and how toxic they can be if we let them.
Right off the bat one thing I noticed with this challenge was that I actually complain a lot more than I thought I did. For me it made it obvious that I really do need to continue to work on speaking positive thoughts over negative ones.
Here’s what else we all learned…
Lessons learned from staying positive with our words:
Our words are powerful and they have a great impact on our overall outlook.
The second we start complaining, the second our mood will plummet. When we try our best to stop these negative thoughts from manifesting into spoken words and instead speak positively, our frame of mind will reflect that.
Time is too precious to waste it complaining.
Every time we drag our feet and complain about the things we have to do, places we have to go, etc., we’re wasting time. These moments could be spent mindfully enjoying the moment and the people/circumstances around us. The perfect example? Sunday nights. How often do we drag our feet on Sundays, dreading Monday? So many of us talk about how much we’re not looking forward to work when instead we could be soaking up the last moments of the weekend doing something fun or having a meaningful conversation with the person/people we’re with.
We’re reminded of how much we have to be thankful for.
It’s easy to forget about our blessings when we’re so honed in on the things directly in front of us that might suck. Redirecting our mind and looking at the bright side of situations will remind us of the things we should be thankful for. Negativity quickly looses power when we choose this way of thinking!
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August Mindfulness Challenge
It’s time to be more mindful of the people around us and what they’re going through, especially strangers. This idea came from my friend Sarah. She says “I feel like it’s so easy to get frustrated with people we don’t know – other drivers, rude people on the street, at work, etc. and automatically judge them or assume the worst about them… but I always try to stop and think about maybe why they’re acting that way and try to be mindful of what they could be going through.”
This month let’s do our best to be patient with those around us. This is more important than ever in the world we live in today, where there’s so much division over so many different issues. The least we can do is be kind to those that we encounter each day, even when they aren’t so kind to us. Like Sarah pointed out, you never know what they’re going through!
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Thanks for reading! As always, I’d love to hear about your experiences with these Mindfulness Challenges… feel free contact me here if you have something to share. 🙂
XO Sorelle