In the moment

In the past I haven't always been very good at 'living in the moment'.  I seemed to be thinking ahead to my next task, planning or worrying about what might happen, doing 'plan A, plan B' and such in my head and wondering what would happen if I did a certain task or skipped doing something.  Maybe it is part of my DNA or maybe it is because of my former career of always trying to juggle things and make them fit into that school day.  Maybe it isn't important to know why. 

I just finished reading a book about a woman that had an accident while driving and talking on the phone (Eva are you reading this??) and it left her with a severe brain damage that is called Left Neglect.  Basically it is that she doesn't see anything on the left side of her 'horizontal body line'.  She isn't blind but just unaware that she is only seeing half of the picture. It was a very interesting book but it reminded me that we so often think that 'multi-tasking' is a good thing, so good that we forget to pay attention to the task at hand. 
Even more important, we often forget to notice the 'present'.

 I am sitting here in the corner of my living room and outside my window is the beautiful fall day. The sun is shining on the trees and the beautiful leaves that have managed to stay on the trees.  The sky is blue with those white and dark gray clouds that fill the sky.  The bay is a darker blue and full of a few waves, indicating that it is probably cold and a little unfriendly but still beautiful.  Sometimes I need to remind myself to look out the window and just take in the beauty.

When I take my walks I don't take any technology with me, no music, no NPR, just me and the neighborhood.  I wish I enjoyed the exercise more but I am trying to stay focused on the fresh air and the view around me. 

So take a little time to "Enjoy the View" (Not just the TV show) today.  I am working at staying in the moment because my moments are pretty spectacular most of the time.