Heh. I hope it was good Champagne, too? Good job there.
Mindfulness throughout the day: That's a good thing to aim for, in general, so go for it by all means! - but it's got nothing to do with pointing-out.
R. Gabriel Hill:
In other regards, I feel like a failure. "Why havn't I popped yet?" "Why does everyone else get it but me?" "Am I really doing this the right way?" It's that last question that may be worth asking. What exactly IS the technique behind this method? What does it really mean to "Look" at the truth? You do it with your eyes, right? Well, that's literally what I've been doing. Just looking at things, and cutting off the discursive mind when it tries to pour back in in a couple seconds time. It takes effort like this.
Why are you cutting off the discursive thoughts? They just happen, like a song stuck in your ear, like breathing, like digestion.
Sure, you can exert a bit of control over most of these processes, and that's generally a big chunk of what the "self" seems to be: this possibility of a bit of control. But it's not true that they are generally controllable. Not breathing, not digestion, and not thoughts either.
So, what can you tell about control? Don't speculate, describe exactly what you find.
When I look at the contents of my own mind, the things that make up "Me", I see a closet full of clothes. Interchangable elements, some of which certainly don't fit, or were poorly tailored to begin with, and made of cheap material. The origins of most are questionable, at best. Relatively little is worth a damn. And I can walk away from them at any time, and come back to them- they'll still be there.
So, those are not you, there's no magic kingdom in that closet with a throne waiting for you. Great, tick it off.
Describe the control thing. Report what you find.