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Friday, November 13, 2009

Mindfulness at the Dentist


What a joke? I still say the teachers of mindfulness and those that think that stress is cause by the future are wrong. The premise is wrong. It's more stressful to be hit with the unexpected present: accidents, unexpected happenings, and just plain "life", than the future.

Who worries about the future? Or rather, why would anyone worry about stuff that may never happen? Like I said in my previous posting, turn it over to God. He's the only One Who can use the bad to make good.

This was all brought to mind, today, as I sat in the dentist chair. I wasn't that worried, or anxious. The dentist was fitting me for my bridge. No pain involved.

Then he took a hammer. That's right a HAMMER! That tool that you hit a nail with. He took a hammer and started smacking my teeth with it. Now tell me honestly, would that cause stress, or would you be thinking about tomorrow's stress? The dentist was trying to loosen my temporary bridge. See if you can practice mindfulness with a man smacking a hammer on your teeth.

Good Lord. Thank God I'm Catholic and believe in redemptive suffering.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi
You know I think that they are talking about people who worry about what might happen and although it may seem silly to you and me some people are just naturally worrying about things. They worry about the past , the present and the future. They worry about what has gone wrong even though it is past they can't let it rest then they worry about what is happening and then they worry about what might happen. There is no real point putting too much energy into the past as you can't change it it is your history and what makes you the person you up until this moment. I agree that an immediate threat is well worth thinking about as you may have to plan your escape or react to something quickly.
When people are worrying about the future it is really that it is something they have no control over they become afraid of the unknown and they get caught up in worrying about the what ifs. If they can be helped to worry less it would be great, it is difficult to live with a negative thinker and they often miss great opportunities as they are looking for the negatives instead of the positives and sometimes drag others around them down with them. I am all for helping those people to change their thinking and see the positives in life they will feel better and achieve so much more If they can put half as much energy into being productive as they do worrying they would be so much better off. I say good luck to them and hope they find their way out of negative thinking. I don't think it is our right to judge them or put them down for being them we should help them if we can.

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