Part of mindfulness is about accepting thoughts and feelings, making room for them, allowing them to be there. This brings peace of mind and can help with addictions because you sit with the craving. It also obviously helps with anxiety, depression, etc. With this willingness mentality: does that also mean accepting different uncomfortable situations as part of the present moment, whether we like it or not? For me that would be heavy socializing. Is avoiding them counter to willingness?
I don't think so. I don't care for heavy socializing myself usually. I don't do bars, at weddings I find someone to talk to and sit back out of the limelight. I am terrible at small talk and am usually quiet at family gatherings.
Part of living means sometimes being caught up in uncomfortable situations.Unless you lock yourself away for the rest of your life,you will have to confront these situations,By heavy socialising,does that also involve heavy drinking?If so,then I would start questioning myself,what am I trying to block out of my mind,and how I can best manage those issues.
I think you need to accept yourself because accepting uncomfortable situations will come with it. Or maybe you should think that you define the situation as uncomfortable, though it makes you feel bad. Don’t’ claim it.
I dont like being the centre of attention,so I'm more a listener than a talker!I'll always be the same,and there's nothing wrong with being like that either.Acceptance is needed here,not so much focus on the mindfulness,unless you need to refocus on mindfulness at the time you feel uncomfortable.
I think you can control your reality to a certain extent and avoid unneccessary social interactions if you find them too stressful, but unfortunately social interaction is neccessary sometimes (or every day even, if you work with other people). I guess you can be mindful within the social interaction by finding a way to be calm and peaceful about being the quiet one in the group, instead of exerting too much energy trying to keep up with the extroverts. But more inportantly I think it is important to carve out time afterwards to recharge your batteries and find balance again. If I have an exhausting social engagement one day I often don't leave the house at all the next day. I usually spend all day doing quiet activities where I'm in my happy place, such as gardening or reading.
Obviously craving and aversion are two sides of the same coin. If you can observe mindfulness and equanimity of mind with respect to craving, you can do the same with respect to aversion as well. If you have aversion to heavy socializing but can't get away from it, the right thing to do is to practice equanimity of mind. This will greatly balance your mind and build inner strength.
