How The Worst Year Ever Helped Me Embrace Mindfulness
This past year has been a doozy. In the last 6 months or so I’ve:
- Separated from my spouse of 12 years and started the divorce process
- Learned my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer
- Moved out of my “forever house” into a smaller house close by
- Got a puppy
- Got over my fear of highway driving
- Taken my dad to chemo and/or a million appointments every week
- Experienced serious financial challenges for the first time as an adult
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve got a lot going on. And it almost broke me down. But miraculously, during all of this hardship was when I finally discovered the true meaning of mindfulness and why it matters.
I was on the mindfulness bandwagon before it was cool. I trained to become a certified yoga teacher over a decade ago, so meditation, breathwork and moving with mindfulness are not foreign concepts for me. I’ve also read a LOT of personal development books over the years while on my Eternal Quest To Find Myself ™ — including many about mindfulness. I’ve meditated once in a while on my own, sporadically attended a few meditation groups, and listened to millions of YouTube guided meditations.