Tag: attention

Sunday, December 31

Today is Sunday, December 31, 2023. The last day of the year. A time to pause and reflect.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: This week, you get to start fresh. Reflect on what you have learned in the past year. Writing it down is helpful. Then turn the page to start your new year.

Set your aspirations, for the year. Remember to include the real reason this aspiration is important to you. This is about setting the course in the direction you’d like to go, big picture and remembering your why. Write everything down so you can return to it when you find yourself distracted or off track.

While the path forward may need to change throughout the year, you can continue to make progress by returning the focus to your aspirations for the year. Aspirations stay constant even when the goals and the path towards those goals may change due to changing circumstances.

Pull out a fresh calendar and every day that you state your intentions out loud, or take action towards your aspirations, give yourself a win and mark it on the calendar.  

A quote by Susan Sontag, “Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”

Thank you to Nicole Siparsky, MD for sharing this photo, “Sunset Lake Michigan in Winter.”

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, February 24

Today is Friday, February 24. This week’s practice to expand your vitality is by freeing the mind to be creative. If this option is a tool that appeals to you, please join us.

Think about this: From the minute we wake up until we fall asleep, there are outside influences that are designed to grab people’s attention and redirect- email, social media, news, ads, billboard signs, radio & talk shows, etc. etc. These aim to hoard anybody’s and everybody’s attention. There are also those that are meaningful and personal, specific to you and your relationships –pets, children, partners, family, classmates, coworkers, colleagues, etc. who also desire your attention. When is it your turn to attend to you?

When the brain is constantly being directed by outside influences- without sufficient time to rest and recharge – the circuits can get overloaded and feelings of anxiety or overwhelm may occur. In turn, this can interfere with mental peace and creativity, which is when the brain can play with ideas and invent something novel. Nature immersion, meditation, exercising, bathing, listening to instrumental music, drawing, journaling, or sipping unsweet tea and reading a book, all help you control your brain’s inputs and lets your brain rest and recharge, to think freely and play.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Try deliberately postponing “brain inputs” on waking. Notice what happens if you protect some quiet time immediately after waking, before allowing digital, media, and other uncontrolled inputs. What do you think about? Where does your mind go? What do you notice? What if you direct your attention to nature, like sunshine, the sound of birds chirping, the feel of the blowing wind? Consider this activity on waking most days this week. Jot down a note each time and review it after a week.

A quote by Albert Einstein, “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.”

Thank you to Alex Marrero for this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP