The MOST Important Thing

By Amy Berrafato, LMFT, CST

The other day I greeted my nephew with, “Come over here, and give me a ‘hug’!” He laughed in my face and proceeded to give me a proper hug.

Have you ever noticed moments when your memory seems to fail you? You have trouble focusing on the podcast you’re listening to? Words get jumbled when they come out of your mouth? You’re driving and don’t quite recall how you got from point A to point B? Before a collective freakout about potential diagnoses, chances are anxiety and mindlessness may have something to do with this.

Anxiety always overrides cognition. It takes up all of your mental space, leaving little room for anything else. Excessive worry, racing/ruminating thoughts, anticipatory stress about the future…they can be all consuming when left unchecked. Anxiety is also quite exhausting, spending all your energy elsewhere (often in the past and future). It impacts our relationships tremendously!

In the book “The Miracle of Mindfulness,” Thich Nhat Hanh normalizes that it is the human condition for the mind to live in the past and the future. When you’re washing dishes, you’re typically getting them done to get to the next thing on the to-do list. Which means that “you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.” He challenges readers to “let washing the dishes be the most important thing in your life, so each act of the day is carried out mindfully.” 

This blew my mind! Every little thing we do each day is THE most important thing?! That’s crazy. A challenge indeed, one that has helped bring my mind to where. I. am. So next time you are sipping your morning coffee, walking the dog, feeding your kid…recenter yourself:

This is the most important thing I do today. Here I am.

I encourage you to try it! Often and everywhere.