FIND TIME TO INHABIT YOUR LIFE’S MOMENTS
“We’re so busy watching out for
what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.” – Bill Watterson
Does the above statement strike
a chord with you?
Yesterday I saw one of those
funny photos that people share on Face Book.
It was a photo of 2 very elderly
and wrinkled people with toothy grins to the camera.
And the caption on the photo
was: “My...how did we get this old?”
Don’t worry. We are all facing
the same problem, or at least the majority of us.
For most us, we are going
through life on auto-pilot, with our minds elsewhere, occupied with other
thoughts.
We are literally floating
through life like ghosts.
Does that sound a little too alarmist?
Well…if you think so then consider
the following activities - which could well be part of your daily routine.
The alarm goes off. You stagger
out bed and take a quick a shower. You try to figure what you are going to
wear.
What is the time? Ooh My God, I’m
going to get late.
After your morning rush, you
are at work. You sit in front of your computer, have a cup of tea and, probably,
eat a snack at 10 O’clock.
Someone comments about how nice
you look. You share a hearty laugh with someone and shake hands with several of your colleagues.
You use the bathroom several
times and wash your hands at the hand-basin.
It’s lunch time. You have
meeting at 2.30pm.
It’s 5pm. Time to go home.
Traffic!
What is for dinner today?
You are now home, watching the
9 O’clock news and ready to retire to bed.
Question: How many of these
activities do you notice in a day? How many of these activities do you even remember
being part of?
They are so routine, you barely
notice them, right?
This is called “being occupied”,
and we do it all the time.
We are rushing through everything.
Its no wonder then that the grinning old men
did not realize they were growing old.
This is the reason why mindfulness
is quickly becoming the buzz word.
Practicing mindfulness means
consciously creating little spaces in our lives in order to inhabit life's moments - little spaces of time to look around and experience the beautiful world around us.
It means being present in your
actions and to notice with all your senses what is happening around you.
Imagine you have only a month
to live. What would each moment mean to you?
Each bite would be one of your
last.
Each sun-soaked morning, each step on the grass, each conversation and
every other little action that you today take for granted, would take a whole new
dimension because it would be one of your last.
But you are very lucky and blessed. You don't have to wait for your last month to enjoy life's moments.
You only need to practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness means being present and experiencing the wonder of life in our little every
activities.
We agree, it is a difficult
concept to practice. But like everything else in life, you just need to start
small.
Start by creating time at the beginning
of each day to count your blessings and be thankful for them.
Then create time at the end of each day to look back to the joyful moments you had during your wakefulness.
If you do this consistently, you
will begin to notice small things you never noticed before, and begin to truly
treasure and inhabit those moments.
Don’t rush through life with a mind
full.
Try mindful instead!
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