Present

One of the best times for me to live in the present is when I am standing in front of the mirror in the morning, stirring up the courage to turn on the shower and step into the warm but very wet spray.  The experience of staying in the present, at home inside my body, acutely aware of where I am is best felt in the first hour of my day.   It is my cocoon from which I eventually emerge and attempt to carry that experience of being present, here and now, through the rest of the day.     It gets a little ragged by the end of the day, soI refresh it.

I am living more and more of my life where I am and not so much where I want to be.   While I still do some planning, I do it without so much emphasis on the details.    Above all, I try to stay away from any emotional content of that imaginary future.

I am learning how to do this with my closest and dearest companions.  I am finding it easier to get deeply involved in what is happening right now, not thinking or feeling much of what could be happening in the future.   Not am I more present with them, able to look at them with a much more open heart.   I also find it more satisfying and wonderful.

My life is so much more enjoyable when I stay in the present.   If I put much attention and energy into what might happen or what has already happened, I think I miss a lot of what is going on right now.    My planning for the future is becoming more and more about setting guideposts, not drawing a detailed roadmap.

I recognize that I don’t always life this way, even though it is what I want to do.   However, I am finding that I am able to do it more and more easily and frequently.   I am simply more skilled at living in the present.

I think this is becoming more achievable because I get to do it with great focus and concentration twice a day.   Those times I spin my cocoon around me and become very, very much in the present.   The training works.   I emerge much more focused, and carry that experience with me through the day with growing skill.