The mindfulness challenge this week is to become a detective wherever you happen to find yourself – whether it is inside a familiar room or outside in a place you have never visited – to notice and acknowledge the color blue wherever you encounter it.
By a detective I mean the following. As you move from one place to the next, focus your attention on searching for the color blue. Anything counts––pictures, carpets, leafs, flowers, hairs of people that have been colored blue, cars, buildings, products in stores, clothes, lipstick, the sky, crayons, food… Maintain a watchful gaze wherever you find yourself. Acknowledge and notice the color blue.
A companion challenge (if you decide to accept the challenge to notice the color blue) is to keep a count of the number of objects that contain blue throughout the week. Each day, begin the count with the number one and increment the count with each new object that you find which contains blue. Don’t count on a piece of paper. Count in your mind.
What in the world is the reason for keeping a count in your mind each day? It forges new neural networks. If you forget the count at 1:30 in the afternoon and think to yourself,
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I can’t remember the count from earlier today.”
Do not worry or fret about it. The effort of simply trying to keep count actually works just as well in creating new neural networks. It is engaging the effort of trying that makes the difference.
By the end of the day you will have a total count to acknowledge as you close your eyes for bed. Whatever that final tally may be – whether 24, 82, 109 or 1,022 – close your eyes and celebrate your success with keeping count from the beginning to the end of the day. Acknowledge the beauty and wonders of the world as it is exhibited through the magnificent color of blue.
Robert
© Parkinsons Recovery