Thinking of the future and planning for future - is this not mindfulness?

[gerronwithit]

Based on the explaination above then I suppose we can understand like this: planning/thinking for future is legit, as long as we know that all of these planning and thinking are unreal and it don't happen yet. We think about future (similar to think about something) while still aware that we're in the present and things in our mind have yet to come true. And so it's okay to think about future, provided that we're awared of what happening in our life currently.
The state which gerron mention is like a state of fear and insecure. From what I understand, when a person is tired of his current life and he refuses to face it, he will fall into one of these 2 situations:
1) Recall happy moments in his life (which is in the past)
2) Thinking towards the future and dreams of many wild, happy scenarios (which are untrue since these scenarios don't happen yet, and they may even not become real in the future).
In this case, probably gerron refer to the situation (2). And so a person who has tendency to dream about the future is likely to be constantly in hurry state and manipulative. And this is exactly when he loses the state of mindfulness - he doesn't aware of his current state, he just thinks about the future he dreams.
I hope this explaination is legit .

Hello Antonio, your summary is what I believed: if I think about the future but know it is only thinking and not reality and do so whilst being present, this is mindfulness. But the view of Piedwagtail makes me wonder whether this is correct: "If you're worrying then you're 'thinking' about the future, you're not present."

I wasn't refering to your number 2) above - my idea of thinking about the future was boring stuff like planning when to go grocery shopping, etc!

Thanks for the reply

[piedwagtail91]

"But the view of Piedwagtail makes me wonder whether this is correct: "If you're worrying then you're 'thinking' about the future, you're not present."
If you're 'planning' as in planning a holiday or a weeks shopping then as long as your mind isn't wandering and 'living' your holiday or shopping trip as you plan then chances are you're 'present' .
You can only experience the present moment, you can't think it.
When you're aware of your breath and present, you're aware, not in thought.
Thoughts are past or future.
Finding something 'boring' is a judgement or criticism. It's a thought and not mindful.
The present moment can't be boring because it's awareness based, not thought based.

[gerronwithit]

Thanks, Piedwagtail. I really appreciate your taking the time.

You might be thinking, "Does this even matter?" Problem is, for me, it does. My OCD is a compulsive thinking type and I aim to use mindfulness to help live with it. So I need to know which types of thinking are not mindfulness in order to live the mindful way and to help discern which thinking is useful/'acceptable' thinking and which is not.

[piedwagtail91]

It's no problem.
In the past I've been on a course with someone who has Ocd ,I remember the struggles they had.
If its the background chatter,running commentary type of thought then it's pretty safe to let that go, that's 'mindless', it just happens without your input.
If you're analysing or planning , aware that you're thinking , then you're actively, mindfuly thinking, aware of your thinking and that's ok.
You can be aware of body sensations, aware of the runnng commentary so you're not you're body or your Mind.
You're the awareness behind them. That's where you can think (plan, analyze ) mindfuly.
Practice will help to differentiate between the two.
The English language is sadky lacking in the right words when it comes to mindfulness.

[gerronwithit]

Thanks again for sharing your very helpful elucidation of this, I very much appreciate it!! Thanks!

[piedwagtail91]

Thanks.
Take care and good luck.

[gerronwithit]

I am sorry to revisit this but it's nagging at me and I feel that I can't deepen my practice if I don't feel that I understand it fully.

If I think both of these thoughts with full consciousness and awareness:

1. "Shopping tomorrow. I think I'll get some soup, bread, eggs and cheese."
2. "Shopping tomorrow. I hope I don't hit somebody's car when I am trying to park."

Am I being mindful in number 1 but not in number 2?

The book says that 'What if' is not mindfulness. I get that it isn't if I am living the feared event in that daydream-like state we get when our thoughts carry us off.

But IS number 2 still mindfulness?

And if not, why not?

[JonW]

Hi gerronwithit,
There's nothing unmindful about making shopping lists.
Nor is there anything wrong with having the thought, '"Shopping tomorrow. I hope I don't hit somebody's car when I am trying to park." There's nothing wrong with having thoughts. It's when we get caught up in their content that they can become problematic. If you spent an hour worrying about whether you would hit another car when out shopping, then I'd say it pays to be mindful.
Cheers,
Jon