by Dave Wine, President & CEO
Mindfulness can be practiced in a lot of different ways. Besides specific breathing, focusing, listening and other similar exercises, mindfulness can be practiced through focusing on a thought or a sentence or a quote and just resonating with that for a period of time. Let me share one with you today:
BED: as in, Stay out of BED! What, Dave, is that all about? Well, in this case, BED, stands for three other words:
- Blame
- Excuse
- Denial
These three words form most of the ways we skirt around self-responsibility and mindfulness is really one of the most powerful ways we can stay responsible to and with ourselves. By blaming others (the opposite of not taking responsibility for ourselves); by excusing ourselves (again not taking responsibility) or using denial (not my fault – something or someone else is responsible!), we create a context that leads to projecting onto others and other things the reason we are who we are or do what we do. We give up our personal power when we do that.
So this simple mindful exercise is taking a thought we can easily remember – Stay out of BED!- and then taking time to pause and reflect on ways we may be staying in BED in our lives. The awareness that comes with that reflection can then help us catch ourselves when we mistakenly blame others, excuse ourselves, or deny that we were responsible. And remember – always do this with a forgiving, loving, affirming attitude toward yourself! We all do this at times – it is not about perfection – it is about improvement and using mindfulness as a tool to enable this greater awareness of ourselves.
David Wine
David is the President and CEO of the MAX enterprise, having served in that capacity since its formation in 2001. He has forty plus years of leadership experience in the business and faith-based worlds, being an ordained minister, having been elected to the highest position in his denomination, and receiving numerous awards and recognition for his leadership in the insurance industry. He currently serves on numerous boards in the church and insurance sectors. His hobbies include hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing as well as being an avid reader. David and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, a son, and four grandchildren.