Mindfulness at Times of Stress: At Home

The Core Algorithm makes sure we have a sufficient grasp of an issue or problem, before embarking on a solution.  That grasp comes not just from a focused, analytic tact, but also from an intuitive, meditative state.  It is what some of us psychologists call mindfulness.  Simply being open to whatever is going on around us and within us, staying with it, and keeping our grounding and center are all being mindful.  Ideas, insights or solutions can thus arrive in logical fashion and-or as unexpected illumination in our mind.

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So, with that said, I am mindful about having drinks near my laptop.  When I am working at something, I can be so absorbed that nothing it seems can pry my concentration away.  I may be especially absentminded and distracted, especially under stress, that I am liable to knock over a drink right on my keyboard.  Thankfully that's never happened to me, but it has to my wife and it was a costly accident because her laptop was not reparable.  So I avoid having drinks nearby, or if I decide to have one, I place behind it my laptop or well off to the side.  The very need to reach for it prompts me to pay attention and thus avoid messy accidents. 

In the past, too, I found myself forgetting that I had something cook on the stove.  One time, while in Dubai, I even closed the kitchen door for some reason.  The building security came knocking on my door, because the smoke billowing from burnt rice triggered the alarm, which I didn't know.  When I saw it was the guard, I remembered instantly that I had something cooking.  Causing a fire in the kitchen is obviously a dangerous oversight, so because I can get so immersed in my work, I avoid multitasking on things that, if I forget, could be a veritable disaster.

Another time, I was quite preoccupied in taking care of my ailing elderly mother that I spilled an entire hot entree.  Typically I can grab it barehanded from the microwave, and quickly bring it to the table.  But after that spill, I make sure to use potholders and secure my grasp.  Similarly, while dropping keys is no problem, doing so with my mobile, which I do on occasion, can break the device.  It used to happen more frequently than I liked, but I've reduced it to next to nothing in recent months.    

Again stress can deepen my absorption and divert my attention, so I have to be especially mindful.  I am mindful of myself, how I am and what I am prone to, and I modify my day to day activities accordingly.