I've achieved Mindfulness! It took no effort at all!
Mindfulness is the practice of bringing one's attention to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment. - Wikipedia
The secret to attaining Wisdom, Enlightenment, Mindfulness: Just sit around and get old.
In my younger days how ignorant I was! I'd just go about my life, paying no attention to the body unless it needed something (food or use your imagination). I was barely aware of its existence except if I stubbed my toe or banged my head. If I sprained an ankle, it hurt. In a few days it was all better.
Fast forward forty years. Nowadays, all my attention is taken up by internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment! Life has never been more all-encompassing. My entire body and all its parts continually radiate awareness!
Example: those knees. For most of my life they were simply bulges, a pair of sturdy knots that made it easier to hold food on my lap while driving so a bag of ketchup and fries wouldn't slide down my shins and onto the brake pedal. I also remember using them to twist then steady myself in certain sexual positions. Generally, knees came in handy.
But never was I really aware of them. Now, I'm so happy to report, I'm aware of them all the time! They're glowing beacons of enlightenment. And let me not leave out my feet, hands, shoulders, elbows. All glimmering, coruscating corporeality!
My innards are likewise enlightened. Example: that alimentary canal. Years ago I would just eat something. Then I'd eat something else. That was that. No satori attaining. Now, every morsel is mindful, especially if doused in sriracha sauce. Not a moment goes by without me knowing exactly where it is on its epic journey. Even during and immediately following extrusion it leaves an afterglow of awareness! Sometimes I think I'm the most enlightened person in the world.
Luckily for us - The Mindful, Wise Ones - Congress, the powers-that-be, and innumerable do-gooders are making sure that we stay enlightened, and never veer from The Path. We should all be thankful for their diligence and sagacity.
Nevertheless, every so often I do yearn for those olden days of blissful ignorance.
The embedded link above is an article by HuffPost Blogger Maia Szalavitz for Scientific American.