Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we'll be talking about how to recognize what part of you needs attention. So really often when we have problems, pains, or difficulties in our lives, it's really tempting to look for solutions where it's easy rather than taking the time to really take an honest look into the causes of our difficulties. So for instance, maybe we've been feeling really dissatisfied with our lives, but rather than actually facing our pain directly, we might try to comfort ourselves with shopping, with alcohol, with endless scrolling on social media. Maybe we have a symptom of an illness, but instead of looking into it, we push ourselves harder and tell ourselves it will be okay.

But secretly in the back of our minds, we're a little worried that it could be something bad. Or maybe we feel upset with a loved one, but we don't acknowledge it fully because we don't want to deal with the discomfort of a difficult conversation. So we just ignore the situation or we simmer in bitterness and resentment. But these kinds of easy, quick solutions to our problems are just short-term band-aids, at best. And if we do them continuously, they can actually lead us down paths of more and more difficulty and continued avoidance of what's truly calling for our attention.But the good news is we already have everything we need within us to find and face whatever's calling for our attention.

It just takes a little courage mixed with some compassion and self honesty. So for instance, right now, we can take a moment to check in with ourselves and give this inquiry a try. So. If you care to maybe closing the eyes, if that's comfortable for you. And taking a deep breath in.

And letting it out. And just gently inquiring with yourself, what part of me needs attention? Just taking a moment to see what comes up. And then when you're ready, you can open the eyes. So there may have been something that came to mind here, or maybe not, and that's fine too. I think what's important to know is that we often shut down, run away or escape to easier fixes when some part of us really needs attention.

And although it can be really difficult to look right into the heart of our pain, when we do this, when we gently face our discomfort, our fear, or our pain, we begin to understand it and we can take action to heal it. So the invitation for today and ongoing is to keep checking in with what part of you needs attention. And as always thank you for your practice. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.