Now, as a seasoned senior citizen (try repeating that phrase 3 times in a row), I remembered making a vow in my middle-aged moments of melancholy(*). I vowed that as I attained citizenry(**), I would strive to continue ‘living in the moment‘. That is, letting go the past (especially those difficult and troubling years); yet, not waiting for the future. I wanted to live my life, being consciously aware that each and every moment you are alive and breathing is a precious gift from God.

What this life long way of existence has taught me is that as I aged, I would have to monitor, adjust and continuously calibrate my attitude. That jewel of advice came from my indulgence with God’s holy word in the Bible. So for this week’s blog, I decided to engage the Holy Spirit and inquire of Him to give me a report on what He thinks of my attitude towards life and the people I come in contact with on a daily basis.

After reading several books on how to meditate in order to receive the most spiritual understanding, it appeared to me that the question put to me was simply this: How do you converse with yourself! Is it with curses or with praises! Are your innermost sentences and ‘head talks’ prefaced with…’I hate this or that’. Or, ‘why am I always late or forgetting something’. (You’re getting the idea.) The question is are you constantly belittling and/or criticizing yourself? While at the same time, the Holy Spirit is trying to remind you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) King David realized who he was and just how meticulously God had created him. And David also declared…’my soul knows it very well!’

If you need any help in learning this jewel of advice consult your Bible. Mindfulness meditation also teaches us how to practice speaking kindly to ourselves in all kinds of situations. And if we can master this practice in the quiet situation of our minds, we can transfer this practice to others and become more accepting and friendlier towards them along with ourselves and less judgmental and critical of everyone when we engage them in conversation.

The “truth” that will become more evident and authentic in your mind is this: You will learn the difference between “knowing” and “realizing“. For example, you will know that a certain body of water is deep, ‘But‘ you won’t realize just how deep the water is until you start to drown.

The same is true in mindfulness meditation as friends and family begin to comment on the new way you are communicating with others…much gentler, more empathy, employing a sweeter and more quiet spirit than ever before.

Becoming less judgmental in your interactions with others will cause you to know that intellectual thinking about something, is shallow thinking, compared to intellectually experiencing that same something.

(*) NOTES: Adjective meaning of ‘melancholy’; having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive: “she felt a little melancholy”.

(**) Old age

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