Considering I missed this week’s discussion and do not practice actual Mindfulness for myself, I know little about the topic. From what I’ve heard and what I’ve read is that mindfulness is the act of being aware. Although I wasn’t present, I’m sure that a lot of knowledge was gained on the topic and I wish I could have participated. With all the major events that have taken place and are continuing to take place, just this year, I believe that we could all benefit from practicing Mindfulness. This is a stressful time of year for all of us and it’s important that we take time to focus on the present moment instead worrying about yesterday or what’ll happen tomorrow.  

Since school has started this semester, I found myself becoming anxious, unmotivated, and tired most of the time. I could feel the lack of energy present in my body and started to rely heavily on coffee to get me through the day. I would use anything as an excuse as to why I wasn’t my normal self. The easiest excuse was to blame the pandemic for my unhappiness, when really, I was just becoming lazy and getting in my own way. Although I’m still a full-time college student, I’m taking most of my courses online which allows me to do a lot more for myself than normal. I do not meditate but I found other ways to connect with myself and to rid myself of that negativity. I started writing about my day in a journal, it was a better alternative than feeling like I always had to talk them through with somebody other than myself. I started working out again to really help boost my energy throughout the day and lastly, I started drinking more water, instead of so much coffee (I still had my morning coffee 😊) and taking vitamins. The most important thing I learned how to do, is how to be on my own. I’m more of an extrovert and once we came back to school, I found it difficult to be in my room all the time, doing nothing but homework and listening to my thoughts. Overtime, I became more comfortable and confident with myself which was a defining moment for me. 

This week, the assignment asked us to take only 5 minutes of mindfulness practice but since I missed class, to make up for the lost time, I decided to take 10 minutes of mindfulness. Had I done this in the beginning of the semester, I would have struggled and been distracted. I usually stay inside but the weather this week was nice, so I went outside. I took a break from my homework, grabbed my water bottle, and silenced my phone. I walked onto campus and probably for the first time in 3 years, I recognized the beauty of our campus. I made a mental note of all the great things that have happened to me since being here. It was nice for me to recognize and be grateful for life because it’s so easy to get caught up in ‘what-if’ or all the things that are going wrong in life instead of the amazing things that are happening in that moment.