01-21-2015, 12:55 AM
Tan, you can draw from life but stylize what you see. It doesnt have to be an exact copy. Change real life to look the way you want it to look and make it better. And I agree with Amit and Jeanne about using mindfulness to increase patience. Time is an illusion after all. The past is only a memory and the future can only be imagined. The present moment is all there ever is or will be. The only way to contentment is to make peace with the present. Dwelling on the past or pondering endlessly about the future will always leave you unfulfilled.
Of course you can still make plans for goals you want to reach but imagining yourself in the future and worrying about the endless things that might go wrong is wasted energy. The same with asking yourself endlessly "what if I had done things different in the past". You can simply reflect back on a past mistake and make a note of useful lessons you may have learned and then come back to the present. Most of us spend all day thinking about the past and future. But the world around us can only be experienced and fully appreciated in our present state. So dont just think about what Im saying. Try to apply it because it can only be experienced. Thinking will just get in the way and take you out of the present.
Of course you can still make plans for goals you want to reach but imagining yourself in the future and worrying about the endless things that might go wrong is wasted energy. The same with asking yourself endlessly "what if I had done things different in the past". You can simply reflect back on a past mistake and make a note of useful lessons you may have learned and then come back to the present. Most of us spend all day thinking about the past and future. But the world around us can only be experienced and fully appreciated in our present state. So dont just think about what Im saying. Try to apply it because it can only be experienced. Thinking will just get in the way and take you out of the present.