5.25.2015

THIS MOMENT

Welcome to a little writing exercise I was assigned yesterday.  I've decided we might as well work through it together, since I'm convinced we may all be in the same boat on this subject. And, the subject is TIME.  Yes, time.  I know that some of you have heard me lament the way in which time flies.  I often say that I can literally see it whiz past my face. Whoosh...(feel the breeze?) and another day is gone.  Where did it go?  And, where was I while it was happening?

I used to think I had this time thing figured out.  I once decided (or maybe just read) that, as we age, any single hour, day or week becomes a much smaller percentage of the total time we've been on earth and so, becomes less and less important to our world.  For example: When we were five, and our birthday wasn't for six more months, we had to wait 10% of our entire lifespan for that day to arrive.  No wonder we cried and kicked the furniture.  Today, a wait of six months, is somewhere around seven tenths of 1% of my lifespan.  I think.  Oh well, it's short no matter what the measure, and I have long since stopped kicking and crying about it.  I do get a bit snippy every time another seven-tenths falls off the time clock, but we just call that Age and Stage.

I've recently been introduced to a new concept for better living that I'm studying and exploring and reaching toward, and, now, extending into this time conundrum of mine.  The concept is this:  As human beings we spend very little conscious time in the moment--this moment--the very brief here and now.  Instead, we are generally consumed with rehashing the past or projecting the future and, in that process, missing the very precious present.  Totally missing it.  No wonder we think time is flying by.

I know, for example, that if I'm dreading an appointment next Tuesday, I can sit on the patio and sip a little wine with BC, or watch the sun rise through the fronds of our pineapple palm, but remain relatively untouched by all of it, or any of it.  Why?  Because I'm so engrossed in next Tuesday, I've missed this Tuesday.  The same thing happens in reverse when I'm wrapped up in last Wednesday's meeting, because maybe, I think, it didn't go well.  I might have said too much...or was it too little?  I think I laughed at the wrong time (it was an odd joke) and I know I spilled my coffee.  Could it be worse?  Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it could be worse.  Much worse.  Because I have just allowed today to be hijacked by concerns about last Wednesday and, in the process, I'm another day older with nothing to show for it. What a waste!

Does that make sense?  I hope so, because I'm just beginning to begin to get it and I want to pass it on: Being (or living) in the moment.  Not the old '60s version of "living in the moment" complete with diaphanous flowered skirts, bare feet and funny cigarettes.  No.  This is totally different.  This is grabbing on to each instant and understanding this is as good as it gets.  This is here and now and it deserves all my attention.  Every bit of it.  No more multi-tasking.  It was a great strength years ago...or so I bragged, but today we're learning multi-tasking is simply divided attention which, unfortunately, yields very few dividends.

I'm not thinking that achieving mindfulness (being in the moment) will be a particularly easy task, but, as with anything we attempt, it should get easier with practice.  Especially when we find that this moment, fully appreciated and not disturbed, has made our day richer.  Has made our week more memorable. And, moment upon moment, our life better lived.  I even have a reminder from Eckhart Tolle:  "...the present moment is all you ever have.  Make the now the primary focus of your life."

Well, having said all that, I'd better get started--right now--to remind myself of the moment I'm in. I will not worry about the lengthening list of tasks due tomorrow, nor the negative "Why did I do that?" or "What was I thinking?" that so often takes over my brain.  No!  I will reach for the here. I will hold onto the now.  I will pull myself back into and reside in this moment.   After all, this is the only moment I have, and I plan to live it fully, appreciate it, and remember it in my heart.

PS:  One more Eckhart Tolle...I couldn't decide between them earlier:  "You create a good future by creating a good present."     Amen.