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Is anyone else bombarded by social media messages to set goals, make New Year’s resolutions, or create a bucket list for 2025? I sure have been. In my pre-ALS days, I heeded the reminders. I looked forward to breaking into a brand-new desk calendar and filling it with my activities and goals for the coming year. Heck, I even had three- and five-year goals. But now, like most other ALS patients, I plan my life one month at a time.
However, I have found success with a unique twist on goal-setting, something I began several years ago.
Instead of a resolution, I set an intention; a challenge to simply be. To be in the present moment, to be aware of myself and the people and things around me. And to not get pulled into the distractions or negative vibes I might encounter.
In the past, my resolutions and goals helped me get things done. Intentions are more about how we live. They may have similar objectives, but intentions do it in a less pressured way.
Isn’t ‘simply being’ the same thing as mindfulness?
When I’m practicing mindfulness, it helps me pay attention to walking, eating, and moving throughout the house, which is important with ALS. I’m avoiding falls, choking, and other near-disasters that happen when I’m lost in my thoughts. Mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial for patients with ALS. (see this article: “Mindfulness-based Meditation Improves ALS Patients’ Lives, Study Shows”)
For me, the state of being goes beyond attentiveness to actions. It also includes a constant awareness of my body, breathing, and emotional state.
You can try it now
Focus your mind on awareness of
your fingers, hands, and feet. Then feel your body breathing. Maintain those
sensations and add awareness of the room or space around you. Be simultaneously
aware of breathing, your body, and the environment you’re in.
The challenge is to drop into this state of being as often and for as long as possible.
Here are a few examples of how I use the intention to simply be.
· When I wake up
in the morning, I’ll devote a few minutes to the steps I described above and
try to maintain the awareness of being as I go through my morning activities.
· When out and
about, before entering a store, I will go through the steps again. Plus, add an
intention not to be distracted by worries about other people, or the energy of
the crowds around me.
· When opening
social media or turning on the TV news, I’ll let what I hear or read wash over
me and not stick. I’ll check in often to sense my breathing and be alert for
body tension.
Of course, distractions are everywhere. Lest you think I spend my time leisurely swinging in a hammock, or that my face holds a perpetual Zen monk’s grin, that’s not happening. I’m a realist about not being able to hold on to a state of being and awareness for more than five minutes at a time. But I don’t give up.
But remember, it’s an intention. Not a make-or-break resolution. Giving myself permission to drop in and out of a state of being is a step in the right direction toward taking care of me. That’s how just one small change, one small step of daily progress, can become a habit.
Have I interested you in setting an intention (or two) for yourself? Go ahead and try it. It’s one more strategy that can help us learn how to live well while living with ALS.
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FOR MORE ON THIS TOPIC, I SUGGEST THESE POSTS
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Life with ALS Is Learning How to Balance Effort and Ease
Winning
the Battle Against Daily Distractions
Explore more posts HERE
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| Dagmar Munn ALS and Wellness Blog |
“Most humans are never fully present in the now because unconsciously they believe the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.”
Eckhart Tolle
A version of this post first
appeared as my column on the ALS News Today website.