‘Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it.’ – Horace Mann
It isn't necessary to be mindful in all your waking hours, but unless you make a concerted effort to be mindful on a daily basis it's easy to get distracted by myriad things that divert your attention through the day.
Occasional attempts at ‘being in the moment’ or to ‘notice the little things more’ and ‘live in the now’ are well meaning, but distractions and preoccupations take over and resolutions to be more mindful fall by the wayside.
What to do? You need to make mindfulness a habit, something that you do on a regular basis until it becomes your normal, everyday practice.
Your mind is able to do this!
Establishing new ways of thinking and doing is not difficult, provided the new ways are constantly repeated. How come? When you think or do something in a new way, you create new connections, or neural pathways, in your brain. Then, every time you repeat that thought or action, every time you continue using these new pathways, they become stronger and more established.
It's like walking through a field of long grass, each step helps to create a new path and every time you walk that new path you establish a clear route which becomes easier to use each time. It becomes a habit to use that route.
Since your distracted and preoccupied mind isn't going to remind you to be mindful, you need something else to remind you.
