Learning to Appreciate the Present

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.  ~J. Lubbock

Are you the type of person who lives on autopilot? Or, do you take time to stop and smell the roses?

These days most of us live in a state overload. We run from appointment to appointment and try to fit everything we can possibly fit into the 24 hours we have each day.  We are a society that is maxed out.

In my opinion, many people have lost (or never learned) the skill of mindfulness. What does mindfulness mean? It means being in the present moment, being totally in–tune with yourself and your surroundings, not worrying about the past or future, just the present.

Granted, for many of us this is no easy feat. Whether it’s because we feel guilt, overwhelmed, or over-stimulated, we are not practicing mindfulness.

If I were to ask you to sit down for 2 minutes and just breathe and observe how you feel, could you do it? Would you be able to not think about your 'to do list’ or continuously wonder when these two minutes will be up? I’m guessing probably not.

Would you like to be able to take two minutes to yourself to just “BE”? Or does that sound too scary?

We need mindfulness in our lives more than we realize. To be in a state of mindfulness, you are literally giving yourself a break from the stress and tension that has infiltrated everyday life.  Practicing mindfulness can help with stress, anxiety and sleeping issues. It can give us a new perspective on our everyday life and problems. It can also make us more open and aware of not only ourselves, but also those around us.

With so many benefits, why is it so hard? Because like every other skill we try to master, mindfulness requires practice. And frankly, if you ask most people, their most likely response would be "I just don't have the time."

And that my friends is exactly why we need to learn to be in the moment. So that the realities of our everyday lives don't take over and make us fast-forward through life on autopilot.

I challenge you to take a few minutes everyday this week to practice being mindful. You can sit at your desk, close your eyes and just breathe; you can read a book to your kid without checking your iphone or blackberry every few minutes, or even as you walk to the train to head to work, slow down, turn off the ipod and just “BE.”