I think we’re all good at managing lots of different things, in our lives, from work to personal relationships. Going from one thing to another but… are you really present?

How conscious are you – truly aware – moment to moment –
of the things you do?

We can easily get distracted. Our thoughts shift quickly. We do things out of habit, unconsciously, such as driving. Your mind wanders and when you arrive at your destination you sometimes don’t remember how you got there.

Or… several pages into a book you have no idea what you’ve read because your thoughts were elsewhere.

You’re missing the opportunity and choice to be mindful – living in the moments of your life.

Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and mindfulness expert
Jon Kabat-Zinn, describes it like this:

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and
non-judgmentally.”

How many moments does it take for you to open your eyes in the morning… to shower and get ready for your day… to eat… to travel from one place to another… to go to school and graduate… build a career… raise a family and live your life?

Moments connect with moments and then extend into events and become your life.

As I write this blog I’m waking up. Sitting on my deck (5:45 am) with delicious, hot coffee, high above the blue Caribbean Sea on Saba, with the morning sun – the center of the universe – blazing at me with its natural brilliance, warmth, power, vision, nurturing, healing, growth, burning into my eyes and face, the same way it did to Turner, Vermeer, Van Gogh and others.

I feel the wind. It’s strong and cool. It comes from all over the world and has the life of millions of other people in it. It’s in me now. In a deep way – I am the wind.

I smell salt air. Hear the sharp chirp of yellow and black bananaquit birds and mourning doves cooing. I see 10 frigate birds floating and circling high above in the clouds and fog… blue sky and huge white clouds… vivid, lush green plants and mountains. Nature! All my senses are alive. I’m really awake, present and immensely grateful. That’s what living in the moment is for me. Does to me.

Once this idea was brand new and strange and hard for me to understand that I was only alive in the present moment. I’ve been practicing mindfulness for several years now. It’s a great pleasure to live this way,
to change my mind and practice living in the moment. I’m constantly surprised, deeply nourished and
happy doing this. I don’t want to miss life… miss out on my own life in any way.

Why not practice mindfulness for yourself?

…rest in stillness — to stop doing and focus on just being. – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Thanks – Michael

Please pass this along.
I also think you might like this – My Profound Gratitude for Art and Life.