Live mindfully, and live well. When we begin a new habit to support our wellbeing, we are filled with the motivating energy of our good intentions. Sometimes this energy helps us to execute a new behavior, and other times the energy of our intentions fizzles out before we have the opportunity to put the new behavior into place. Our mind generates excuses—I don’t feel like it, I’m too tired, I don’t have time, or I’ll do it later. Later may never come. Our mind may have impulses to do something that is the opposite of our intentions. When we learn to pause and pay mindful attention to our sensations, feelings, and thoughts, we have awareness of what is happening in the moment, and we then have the freedom to choose to act in the interest of our intentions. When we live mindfully, we live intentionally, and to some degree, we choose how our life will unfold.
Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self-awareness. –Kelly McGonigal