Today I am thinking about making moments. My Dads partner is a cognitive behavioral therapist. She practices privately, she also writes court reports on child custody and protection cases, and her main job is working in a prison with long term offenders. What she does has always interested me, and I have talked with her before about the basic principles of CBT but I have never really looked into it any further. She once said to me that what we all need to do is enjoy the moment. To get every last bit of positivity out of each experience and not give thought to what might have happened or where else you might be at that time. This idea really resonated with me. I seem to remember having these thoughts after watching the film Big Fish, which I loved and would recommend to everyone.

The more I live, the more I understand the importance of making moments. Especially with my children. When we look at the past, we don’t remember every single thing, just certain moments. The important lessons we have learned come from moments when we participated and were active; the happiest times of our lives become moments that we cherish forever.

There is a constant stream of potential moments to be made. If you fixate on a lost moment, you miss the moments happening right in front of you.Having looked at a few articles I found this technique called 'Mindfulness'

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is an ancient Buddhist practice which is very relevant for life today. Mindfulness is a very simple concept.  Mindfulness  means paying attention in a particular way:  on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.  This increases awareness, clarity and acceptance of our present-moment reality. 

Today my daughter can't go to school due to her sore tummy. She is not really very ill, but she couldn't risk the trip to the play park so far from a loo! My day's schedule has changed completely, but I am enjoying my daughters company, and looking forward to making some order in my wardrobe later! Last night we ate the most delicious curry. My husband is on a new healthy eating plan so we had mushroom, lentil and spinach curry with wholegrain rice. I expect to some people that would sound, (and even look) disgusting. To me, the lovely green spinach leaves and the silky sauce look just heavenly and taste even better!

 Son and husband went to the cinema, son had the time of his life, husband decided he hates going to the cinema more than life itself. The film was poor, the 3D was annoying and unnecessary, and why would anyone want to watch a film in an uncomfortable chair, with a load of noisy annoying strangers AND you can't even press pause for tea and loo breaks! I agree really, but the kids do love it, and it is so nice to see their faces when they are having so much fun.

I have included at the bottom some of the common negative thinking that I am sure we all are guilty of at times. I know I am! I am not Baz Lurman or anything but it is always nice to share anything that might help or at least be interesting to think about.

Mind Reading - when you jump to conclusions or make assumptions (usually negative) about what others may be thinking about you and stress yourself out sometimes needlessly;

Catastrophising or Fortune Telling - where you tend to expect the worst, whether or not it is actually likely to happen;

Over-Generalising - Thinking or claiming that things always or never happen a certain way and forgotting about the exceptions;

Emotional Reasoning - Letting your emotions determine how you act without reflecting on practicalities or considering reasonable information that might be helpful to decision making;

Excessive Self Criticism - Continually putting yourself down (often more than you would others);

Making Demands - Using the language of 'should' or 'must'. The world and others do not always obey this type of command!

Only Noticing or Remembering Negative Aspects - When you forget good features or developments and continually focus on those things which don't go so well!

Lastly, I have ironed out the issue of not being able to leave comments! I would love to read your thoughts or comments, or hear about what interests you. You can leave a comment anonymously so go on, say something xxxx