Mindfulness

Alpacas, New Zealand

If our attention is on the past or future, we are obviously not paying attention to what we are doing in the present.  It is like we are zombies, spaced out and acting in accordance with our programming.  We are conditioned from birth and our conditioning continues in the present.  We are barely alive.

Life can be a beautiful unfolding, moving from one miracle to the next if only we allow it to.  All that we have to do is put our attention on what we are doing.  If we are walking, let's walk.  If we are talking, let's talk.  If we are listening, let's listen.  If we are being, let's be.

We can shift our attention away from our compulsive thinking and into the present by being aware of our senses.  When we wash our hands, are we feeling the cool water flow over our skin or are we thinking about things in the past or the future?  When we are listening to a friend, are we really hearing him or her or are we thinking about what we want to say?  When we look at a tree or a bird, do we even see it?

It is not meditating.  It is paying attention to what we are doing: walking, seeing, breathing, feeling.  It is not passive.  It is allowing life to be just as it is.  It will unfold for us in ways beyond what we can imagine.  Life becomes the greatest adventure we can contemplate.  All that we have to do is allow it to.

Let's live mindfully.