Zoning out/Daydreaming

One I have heard is: With one leg in the Past, and one leg in the Future, you end up pissing on the Present.


lol...it was something like that....but I believe it came from a Native American proverb type story which had more to it. That was the gist anyway. I often remember it.

 

You should try to avoid daydreaming and zoning out, and remain focused on the present moment no matter what it is that your doing. Some people will try to make the excuse that daydreaming is good stress relief, but if you had control of the mind you would have no stress.

 

I think that it is okay to acknowledge and learn from your past, as well as to plan for the future. However there is a difference from thinking "I crashed my car, so I now learned not to drive drunk again", or "I have an appointment tomorrow at 3:00pm"... and thinking "What if I would have said this" or "Why did I say that" or "I looked so foolish", or "What if this person says this and I say that and he responds like this" "what if the interview happens this way" or "What if I see a girl in this restaurant and she starts hitting on me and I'm like 'hey lets go back to my place' and she's like 'hell yes', and we fuck". The latter things are "daydreaming". In my opinion daydreaming occurs when we give precedence to the past or future over the present moment, and get lost in thought instead of thinking in the present.


When the past and future become more important than the present moment, we have a problem. In reality it is quite easy to stay in the present moment once you realize you don't have to try to be in the present. It is impossible for you not to be in the present. It is just a matter of staying aware of this moment instead of getting lost in your imagination (which also happens in the present moment).


It sounds simple but focusing on your breath is a surefire way to stay in the present moment. If you are focused on your breath, it is impossible not to be aware of the present. Use your breath as a center for awareness.

 

I've got this same problem. Wont realize i'm gone for a few minutes. its cool, but also kinda sucks when you're in class and trying to pay attention.

 

is ok to look to the future....and to lean alittle on the past.....

but be here now....
now is all you will ever have


-when i "zone out and daydream" i am not connected to this world at all....

 

Why avoid a thing such as daydreaming, its a gift for people like me and the poster. Just because you cant reach that state like us doesn't mean you should tell everyone to avoid it..

I'm not sure why you say that it isn't stress relieve, when i can close my eyes and 'think' its the best stress relief imaginable.

 

Please point out where I said it is not good stress relief. I said that if you had control of your mind, you wouldn't have any stress to begin with, and a controlled mind does not wander, it only obeys what you decide it will do. I zone out on occasion, however when you are working on meditation for more than just relaxation, you could do 3 hours of concentration exercises a day and it would barely help if you just let your mind do whatever it wants the rest of the day.

 

To me, it comes down to choice. On one hand, you can choose to escape the thoughts to experience the physical world of what we consider "productivity". On the other, you can embrace them as your source of it all. By daydreaming, I consider it a way of discovering who you are. Without daydreaming, I would have never experienced enlightenment. Nice thread btw.

 

Keep in mind, there's a difference between pondering the world or a problem, and fantasizing about what it would be like to be dating that hot girl, or having a mansion, or whatever. Pondering solutions isn't daydreaming, it is still focusing on the current moment in a way as finding a solution will make the current situation better. We wouldn't exist the way we are if we didn't ponder, however if the time spent daydreaming about useless things was used for pondering the answer to things instead, we'd be far ahead as a race.

 

Yes, I understand this. I guess my point was the past can be used to discover who you were. The present describes who you are. And the future describes who you want to become. If we only live in the present, nothing would change.

I'm not saying you should constantly be daydreaming, but I'm saying it can be used for a form of meditation if used properly.

 

The only thing I 'like' about observing my past is seeing the multiple correlations between that and my Enneagram. otherwise, my past creeps into my mind for unpleasant reasons. I think the point was well made that you must realize the difference between pondering and zoning out/daydreaming. there's a difference between zoning IN and zoning OUT (searching and escaping).
we are who we are from birth, is my point. over time, we are coated with "ego". it keeps us from shining, is how I like to see it.
we do not change in motivations from the time we are born.



I don't consider meditating on a utopian society/emotion "daydreaming". or unproductive. It's shown that compassion "evolves" our brain physically (so therefore it helps us mentally, I'd presume.)

type 9s are largely associated with zoning out/daydreaming if anyone's interested. (i'm going to quote someone on daydreaming related to enneagram types that do it the most: "9s just daydream about anything they find comforting or pleasant to think about. whereas 4s daydreams are more emotionally intense, probably more oriented around themselves, and maybe even having a theatrical quality to them." these are just vague tidbits written by some random person though. )

 

fuck i always worry about the future, i don't think i can stop
shits too crazy

 

too much of that just makes what your worried bout happen.....

 

My bad, i misunderstood your post. When i say things like this and you backlash at me like how you did it says a lot about yourself.
Describe what you experience when you 'zone' out. Zoning is a word that gets thrown around a lot, people snap at me all the time in public when i am 'zoning'.
Today for instance i was in deep thought, my eyes rested while another student was asking for my paper. I had no idea he was there and my friend beside me was like "quit zonin"! I was upset and told him he had no idea what zoning is. Its the worst word imaginable to describe what i am doing.

I like to just say im thinking, i stop paying attention to the reality around me and i think about anything i want to(eyes open... i dont have to close my eyes to think like this) When my eyes are resting the best way to describe how it feels is a muscle orgasm in my eyes, not like intense orgasmic feeling just a calm good feeling that makes you want to keep your eyes still.

When you realize stress is just a roadblock on life, and just keep positive and know that stress holds you back so much, you will live a stress-free life like mine I was wrong when i said its the best stress relief.

Its impossible to explain what 'thinking' is for me, no one is living in the reality that i am. I am coming to this forum to just let people know that there is a bright future for this planet, and in the process there is people paid a big amount of money to go on the internet to: lie to us, make us feel like shit, troll, make the truth sound like complete bullshit, discredit the truth, agree to something that they dont really agree with and make the statement said a bunch of bullshittt, i have seen it all on the internet.

Last summer i was living on the internet basically finding out information, watching videos and seeing things that no one else was seeing at the time.(a lot is erased) Now there is a LOT of people doing what i was, but the info is all garbage and when i'm bored i like to go on these forums and bitch slap the 'counter intelligence program' evil fucks with my words. If you are a real human being and not one of those fuckers i truly apologize, you just give seem like one to be honest.

 

I am offended that you say i have an ego, if you met me in person that would quickly change your opinion.

Telling me what i do when ever i please isn't healthy,, makes you seem a bit misinformed about what I mean by Daydreaming & Zoning Out. When you realize what i have realized about time, (that it is an idea, not real, keeps you in a BOX) then daydreaming is paradise. OF COURSE the now is the best and only moment you have, but reflecting on the past and controlling the future is needed to live a happy life like mine. If you truly experience what i have you wouldn't respond so NEGATIVELY to my POSITIVE input It is the best god damn gift i have received sense i was born man

By the way Echoes live at Pompeii is my all time favorite song...

 

wow whatever, BUDDY. you obviously have an ego to be offended by the comment that you have an ego.. like seirously? haha you took offense??

oh and you said he responded negatively and lashed out at you? you are pretty delusional, man, because you're the one who goes " Just because you cant reach that state like us doesn't mean you should tell everyone to avoid it.."

think of how egoic THAT sounds. it was patronizing. so he replied a bit annoyed asking where did you get the idea that he said what you claimed. that makes perfect sense, and i sensed no negativity. lol and thinking he would be part of counter intelligence? this post is so contradictory to "no ego" that it makes me want to roll on the floor laughing while crying that the world is so delusional about their own progress.

sorry, i'm just bothered by how you treated him.

mainly i mean 1Trismegistus1

 

I wasn't backlashing at you, simply wording it like "re-read my post and see if you see me saying daydreaming isn't stress relief".

What I mean by zoning out is thinking about things that are unimportant for anything, when I need to be focused on what I'm actually doing at the moment. It happens to me a lot when I read, I'll read something that will make me think of something else, and my eyes keep reading while I zone out and then I realize I don't know what I just read the last page. Or I'll think about something insignificant coming up in the future that I know isn't going to happen. Like the other night I was thinking of things I could say to my PO to try to befriend her so that maybe I won't have to visit as much, considering I don't get high or anything illegal anymore to begin with and riding all the way out there is an inconvenience, but I know when I get there I'm just going to sit there and listen to what she says and respond. I'm also a bit worried about suboxone showing up in my test, since for a few months I wasn't with a doctor and had to buy them illegally even though I have a prescription, but now I found a new doctor, and I am hoping I can not get found out or bring up any suspicions.