Try this as an experiment and an exercise in mindfulness: Go for a walk and notice when your attention is directed to a potential danger. You may be surprised at how often your mind is alerted to sensory stimuli that might possibly be dangerous. It could be a loud or ambiguous sound, or a movement that you weren’t expecting. It could be a shape in the bushes or a line on the sidewalk. It could be a person or animal, a shadow in the corner of your eye, or maybe even a sensation in your own body.
Our neurological gear is adept at scanning the environment for potential danger. Our most ancient brain parts are designed to keep us from being eaten or otherwise hurt. If our personal experience is that our environment has been dangerous, our brain may have developed extra capacity for vigilance, but even without such conditioning and adaptation, human minds are danger warning systems. Consequently, as sentient beings go, we are a bit on the nervous side.
This proclivity for noticing what is dangerous or wrong in our surroundings is our nature. The obverse tendency is to notice what is pleasing, good, or right. As a biological imperative, alertness to danger trumps awareness of rightness. Our ancestors lived longer because of that. As our environment has become safer though, such alertness to danger has become less necessary. And it wears on us mentally and physically. So, we may need to consciously direct our minds toward noticing what is right.
The sun came up again this morning. Gravity is still working. Water still flows from the faucet. Electricity flows in the light bulb. We tend not to notice these things, because they are consistent. If we are not in pain and our body systems are working the way they are supposed to, we tend not to notice. Doesn’t it make sense to be grateful for all these things we take for granted? When we open our mouths and the right word comes out at the right time—that’s an awesome accomplishment. When we move from sitting to standing without collapsing in a heap, pretty nice.
If you think about it, what’s right about the world far outweighs what’s wrong with it. We just might not notice, because what’s right is normal and therefore not news. If you were to consistently notice and appreciate what is right in your life, you would live in a persistent state of gratitude, which would translate into a condition of joy.
So, take another walk. This time, just notice what is right in you and around you. Don’t take things for granted. Notice the good. Notice the pleasurable. Experience awareness of what is happening as it is supposed to.
© 2010 Tom Barrett