Anything outside of your awareness can hook you. So, ask yourself, what am I believing right now? Instead of letting your story take you down a rabbit hole, make a u-turn. Bring yourself back to what you are experiencing right in this moment. Elizabeth Lesser said, “That is my prayer to God every day: remove the veils so I might see what is really happening here and not be intoxicated by my stories and my fears.” We bless people when we stop and see who they are becoming instead of who we think they are or who we want them to be.
Since this is a lot easier said than done, we train our brains by practicing meditation. We start by stabilizing attention using an anchor such the breath. When you notice that your mind has wandered, congratulations, you just experienced a moment of mindfulness. You will bring your attention back to the breath and do it again, and again. Just as it takes 10,000 times to master a skill, it takes much practice to experience moments of mindfulness more often throughout the day.