We rarely spend time and attention deeply thinking and reflecting -but we should!
When was the last time that you spent some quality time deeply thinking about something important to you?
If you are like most of us, it’s probably been a while. We gloss over something that deserves more than a passing glance. We don’t give it a second thought.
Richard Rudd would like us to devote some time each day to the practice of contemplation. There are so many benefits to be gained from dropping deeper into thinking, feeling and learning from our experiences; or slowly digesting something new we just learned from a book or podcast. Taking time to let things sink in is nourishing, enriching and insightful.
In his book, Contemplation, Richard Rudd offers that there are two very rich opportunities for some serious contemplation. One is when we have learned something new and we feel both inspired and positively impacted by this revelation.
You might hear something so fascinating on a podcast and think to yourself “wow, that sounds amazing. I wonder what it might be like to put that to good use in my life.” But if you don’t spend as little as 5 minutes really contemplating what you learned, most of it will vanish in short order.
Richard reminds us that we would all feel so much better about ourselves and life overall if we spent some quality time each day going a little deeper, lingering a little longer, getting lost in thought about things that inspire us. What a rare treat to spend just 5-10 minutes a few times each day to savor and reflect on the very things that increase our capacity for more joy, love and awe.
In all honesty, we each have lots of inspirational occurrences throughout our days, but they become fleeting moments because we miss the golden opportunity to take in the good and spend a few moments contemplating the wonders.
Dr. Rick Hanson, the neuroscientist who wrote Hardwiring Happiness, reminds us that if we intentionally spend a few minutes really “taking in the good”, we elevate our mood and our baseline for overall happiness and satisfaction.
Why is this important to our overall quality of life? Because if we stop paying attention to what’s going right, the delightful moments of joy, and the engaging feelings of being inspired and uplifted, we will find ourselves stuck in negativity bias.
We upgrade our phones when enhancements and improvements are available. Yet we rarely give any consciousness or serious consideration to upgrading a rather flat baseline when it comes to our happiness and well-being.
Both Richard Rudd and Dr. Rick Hanson invite us to shake things up. Just a few minutes a day contemplating what inspires you and brings you joy — and taking in that good in a savoring kind of way makes a very positive, sustainable difference.
Richard offers that you might be surprised to discover that listening to a song you love and tuning out all other distractions, shifts something inside of you in such a good way. Warm feelings wash over you, perhaps a pleasant memory comes to mind, you might feel drawn closer to someone you love.
Or perhaps you read something that really resonated with you. Our typical mode of operation would be to close the book or article and go on with our day (or continuing scrolling for the next). But what if you took the time to let what you just read really sink in? What if you let your most incredible mind play around with the knowledge you just gained?
I had this experience recently when I listened to Brene Brown and Adam Grant discuss “pocket presence”, drawing on a football analogy to help us understand how situational awareness, the ability to read a room, and temporal cognition can gel in just a few short seconds!
Richard also reminds us that we are prone to let those small moments of joy, connection and contentment pass right by us. He wants us to be more childlike with more curiosity and wonder. Catch those moments like they are fireflies at twilight and marvel at your delight.
Do you remember being a kid and catching fireflies, collecting them in a glass jar with small holes poked in the lid? Richard invites us to collect the small moments that light us up just like that. Savor your first cup of coffee, spend a few minutes marveling at the grasshopper on your patio, soak up that fun conversation with a child. He would call this “harvesting pauses”. You are capturing small moments of light, delight and deep appreciation and putting them in your mental jar.
Richard also invites us to spend time contemplating our challenges. We can use our brain’s natural incubation capacities and our past experiences to reflect on what we are learning from a challenge we are facing. What are we learning about ourselves; and what are we learning as a direct result of the challenge we face. How is this challenge FOR us?
We often feel we have to push through a challenge, so we muscle our way into it. Or we resist it with all our might. Richard encourages us to try something new. Just sit with it, give it some real thought – without judgment, criticism or certainty. This simple practice of introspection relaxes body and brain. We have greater access to our extensive library of internal information when we let down our guard and release tension. Richard reminds us that working through our challenges is a slow and steady process. Don’t expect immediate answers or calls to action. Simply give yourself some time to think about it and consider all the options.
Consider spending just a few minutes each day to contemplate.
You can choose to linger with something inspiring and uplifting.
Or you can drop into some self reflection on a challenge.
Instead of hopping over the opportunity to give something that matters some serious thought, simply linger with it. A few minutes of contemplation often produces incredible wisdom.
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