Embrace the Present Moment

In today's podcast, I wanna talk about the importance of slowing down and being present. I recently read a statistic that said that people spend about 50% of their waking hours thinking about doing something other than what they are doing. In other words, mind wandering. Imagine half of our lives are spent kind of spacing out. So think about like, for example, when you're when you're doing Whatever it is you're doing, are are you there just doing it?

For example, if you're washing the dishes, Wash the dishes. Make that the most important task at the particular moment. Just be with the dish and wash it. I know that sounds kinda strange, but too much of our lives, it seems like I have this visual in my mind of of a a screen with tons of windows open. All the windows are there's something that's vying for my attention.

And until I can start shutting these windows, everything is just too loud. There's too much going on. So the practice of mindfulness is shutting windows and opening the one right in front of you or that which is on center stage and being there with that. I love the quote, the statement by a gentleman by the name of Lin Yutang who says the wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non essentials. And if you think about it, It's it's the only essential thing that's really worthwhile is the one task you're doing right now.

And if you're not doing it with your full attention, It's not really going in. I believe the reason why we have a difficult time remembering things sometimes is, you know, whether it's schoolwork, whatever it might be, Even a person's name that you just met is that there's too much noise going on to be Fully present in that moment and through your focus and attention, really letting that information sink in to a deeper deeper level in your brain so that you remember it. There is great power in slowing down and just doing the one thing in front of you at the moment. For example, if you are doing the dishes and cleaning the house, cleaning the kitchen, just do that. Quiet your mind and focus on 1 dish at a time as you're rinsing it, cleaning it, drying it, or putting it in the dishwasher, whatever you're doing.

If you're getting a drink of water, Just get a drink of water. I recently had a client ask me the question, and she said she's been through some Very challenging things in a high profile, case that's going on in the country right now. And, wish I could tell you more details of it, but she said to me at the end of our session, with not much time left. She goes, can you help me get more grounded in my body. I feel like I'm walking around in a fog, kind of in a in a state of dissociation where I'm just not really here.

It's because there are too many windows open in her mind. Too many things are crying for her attention. What is this person gonna think that person? How is the information that has come out publicly gonna affect my family, my friends, my employment? What impact is this gonna have on my future, on my finances?

All of these things are just screaming at her. And so helping her understand what you just gotta shut all of the windows around you except the 1 in front of you right now. And as she was driving home from work, I said, just drive home from work. Just drive home. Feel your hands on the steering wheel.

And I know even doing that, there's so many things that you have to be aware of because motion is life. Right? You're driving and You're seeing things coming and going all around you, and so you have to pay attention to all of those things. But I said, just work on just being where you're at. You really cannot just You'll you'll know what to do when you cross that bridge when you get there.

Don't don't future trip too much. You've made the best decisions that you can under the circumstance dealing with the issue she was dealing with. And I think it's important also as we go through life, learn to be more confident in your decisions. Just make a decision and don't second guess yourself. I know a a few individuals that I'm working with and 1 pops out super strong in my mind.

He's afraid to do anything in life because he's afraid he's gonna make the wrong choice. The very purpose of life is to experience things in from my perspective. We slip. We fall. It's like learning to ride a bike.

You don't just you don't just get on a bike for the 1st time and ride it and be perfect at it. We've been going through that, you know, in the last couple of years with our or I have with my my grandkids, watching them to learn riding a bike. And it's very, very challenging because you know they're gonna fall And and you watch it happen and they slip and they fall and they scrape their knee, and yet They have a few moments of pure joy before the fall where they're actually doing it. They're actually pedaling. They're actually experiencing, progress in something new, and their brain is changing, and it's exciting.

That very issue is is the very essence of life. I don't think that process ever really changes. Now, yeah, you learn to ride a bike and you become better and better at it, but We're never completely out of the woods no matter how long we have have been riding a bike. We still will slip and fall sometimes under certain conditions, but the probability of that decreases significantly in time. It's the same with with all the other things we experience in life.

Whether you've experienced a setback in a relationship, in employment, and and you struggle with self doubt, Believe in yourself. Believe that you have the capacity to pick yourself up and get going again. Failure is just a state of mind. I love being around people who have suffered significant setbacks in their life, but yet they still remain cheerful even though they feel deep pain and hurt. They're not gonna wallow in it.

They're gonna pick up. They're gonna learn from it and and keep moving forward. It's like the the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, said, Impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. It reminds me of the book by Ryan Holiday, great book.

The obstacle is the way. And if you look at Anyone who has been successful, they have a pretty significant friendship with failure. Failure as a teacher. When people say you can't do it, you'll never be good enough. And when you say that even to yourself, You can you can stop that dialogue, and you can change things.

I love, And I'll I'll end today's podcast with the statement by Bruce Lee, the famous martial artist. Don't speak negatively about yourself even as a joke. Your body doesn't know the difference. Words are energy and cast spells. That's why it's called spelling.

Change the way you speak about yourself and you change your life. What you're not changing, you are also choosing. So think about that. If you're not changing, You're also choosing to remain exactly where you are. So I would ask you to take a look at your life right now.

Are you stuck somewhere? And if you are stuck because of past experiences and you slipped and fallen, you're afraid, remember, it's okay. Get up, keep working, keep struggling, keep searching for answers because if you're not in the process of changing whatever it is you're dealing with your choosing to remain the same, and the power is within you to make whatever correction you need. That's the process of life.