Sometimes I ask myself, "Am I deliberately living my life or am I racing around trying to catch up with it? Am I just reacting to life or am I acting with intention? Am I in a form-fitting mold that I have mindlessly allowed others to create and shape for me?"
It is easy to get caught up in the parenting race to appointments, practices, and all other outside activities that leave us little time to pay attention to our own internal essence. We have the best intentions, but we forget that we need to care for our own well being as well as nurturing others. There is a simple way to begin thinking about and become present in some of our daily activities instead of thinking about what is next on the agenda. It is a way of enjoying whatever we have to do, and derive pleasure and enjoyment from it by simply allowing all our senses to experience it.
When we focus on what it is we are doing right in the moment, it gives our minds license to rest in the present -giving our overly active minds over to what is. We are able to see and feel more clearly what is going on around us. When we are in tune with what is going on, we allow ourselves the space in our minds to be attuned to possibilities and opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
Next time you are engaged in an activity with your children, become aware as to whether your attention is focused on the activity and totally immersed in it, or if there is some distraction that takes your mind out of being fully engaged. It is amazing to realize how much unrelated self talk that pops up in head. Most of it is totally unrelated to what is going on right then. It takes practice to learn to become mindful, present, and to slow down. It is all we have. The past is gone and the future isn't here yet.
Pick one of your daily routines such as washing your face, taking a shower, or eating breakfast. While doing the task, focus your full attention on everything about it. Be totally present with it. If you are washing your face, listen to the sound of the water as it hits the sink, the feel of the lathering of the soap in your hands,,or the rubbing of the towel on your face as you dry it.
The more you practice being in the moment, the more you will enjoy doing mundane things with pleasure. We have to do them anyway so why not do them and practice bringing peacefulness and awareness into your life at the same time?
Until the next time:
A Dream is a seed.
Vision plants it.
Imagination nurtures growth
Opportunities create blooms
Things become Things!
Donna McGoff
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