Insights, reflections, and resources for your inner journey
When we first encounter the concept of non-judging in mindfulness, it can seem paradoxical or even impossible. After all, isn't making judgments a fundamental part of being human? How can we possibly stop judging? The truth is, the non-judging attitude isn't about eliminating judgment—it's about changing our relationship with it.
In our hyperconnected, instant-gratification culture, patience has become a radical act. We expect emails answered immediately, food delivered in minutes, and results from our efforts right now. Yet true growth—whether emotional, spiritual, or even physical—follows nature's timeline, not our demands.
Of all the mindfulness attitudes, acceptance might be the most misunderstood. When we hear "acceptance," we often think it means resignation, passivity, or approving of things we find unacceptable. But acceptance in mindfulness is something quite different—and far more powerful.
In a culture obsessed with achievement, productivity, and constant self-improvement, non-striving might be the most counterintuitive mindfulness attitude. We're conditioned to believe that if we just try hard enough, optimize enough, hustle enough, we'll finally arrive at peace, happiness, or success.
Have you ever noticed how children can be completely absorbed by something you've seen a thousand times? A puddle, a cardboard box, the way light moves across a wall—to them, it's endlessly fascinating because they're seeing it with fresh eyes, free from the burden of "already knowing."
We spend so much of our lives holding on—to beliefs, to relationships, to versions of ourselves that no longer serve us, to outcomes we can't control, to hurts from years ago. We grip these things so tightly that our hands cramp and we forget we're even holding them.
Trust is perhaps the most paradoxical of the seven mindfulness attitudes. In a practice that emphasizes letting go and non-attachment, we're asked to trust—to have faith in something. But what exactly are we trusting?
