2 things about the human mind

Two things I've noticed about the human mind:

1. We act as if how it is, is how it will always be. When you are in something (say unemployment) your mind without an editor, without awareness, without any help from you, sometimes takes the perspective that how it is now it will always be. Yet, it can't be. We know EVERYTHING changes, even the hard stuff. And yet we act or feel at times the despair of the hard, as if we're in the middle, and as if some part of us believes it will always be this way. But we also know things can change in an instant. It was dark until it was light. And there it is, boom, it's different. So, put a lure into the waters of the unconscious and fish for what you think will always be this way, and if it's bringing you despair, know in your heart of hearts this too will change.

2. We stop noticing the waves. We are born to take things for granted. Our mind can only take in so much stimulus in a day, so we are able to group experiences, sights, and automatically push them to the side so they don't take undo attention. When we are driving it's good that we don't try to read the sign on the bench. It's better that we focus on the task at hand. A lot of inputs are received, and trashed before we even consciously take them in. On the other hand, I love the beach. I love the sound of crashing waves. And I've come to the beach to take in this sound and just Be here and soak it up. Do you know in about 10 min. I've stopped hearing the waves. I've started watching the pebbles and pitfalls on my path, and I'm no longer taking in the vista. It takes all of our awareness to stay present, even when we are tickled with the event at hand. Why is that? We go to sleep even at the best moments of our life. We're not meant to live totally turned on all the time. This would be overstimulating, so we fluxuate between various levels of awareness. The good news is we can be aware of our propensity to not be aware, and remind our selves, "wake up, wake up, be present" as often as we can.