mindfulness

In Sociological Mindfulness by Michael Schwalbe, I learned that being mindful is about paying attention to other things and people that you wouldn't normally see or appreciate. He related it to the mind of a child which helped me understand what being mindful is all about. It is that sense of clarity, and since children's minds are new and accepting, they have not been affected by the media or their surroundings just yet. If more people could think in this way there would be more peace, cooperation, and a real understanding of one another. It shows us how we affect others and how we are affected everyday. Even if someone tells a racist joke about their own race, that can be harmful to others. It may be unintentional, but there is indeed harm done. Also, by telling a joke like that it makes it okay to make fun of races just for a stupid little laugh, but it's not worth it. Mindfulness is about respecting people and understanding peoples hardships and other obstacles they may face. This could be better for the world as a whole because if people would just stop and appreciate, there would be less hate and bitterness. Even though I support sociological mindfulness, I also see how hard it can be to do. At our school and throughout our lives we are taught individualism, to look out for ourselves instead of one another becuase the only person you can count on is yourself. In some cases, people have failed me but we are only human and we need to accept that. We all need to be less selfish and more selfless.