Being present is not as easy as it sounds. Thoughts of what you have not done, what you need to do, what you should have done quickly crowd in…even when you are somewhere beautiful like the beach.
Most kids are pretty good at being present. If you watch them when they’re doing something that is new or exhilarating, they are completely HERE. They are in the NOW. I was recently at the beach with my kids and I watched as my son took off running to launch his kite into the air. I observed him as he stood there concentrating on it as it swooped and circled in the wind. It was something he hasn’t done much before. He was completely and totally absorbed. He yelled with joy when the kite took a momentary dive and then caught by the wind, shot back into the sky. There was nothing else taking his attention, he was fully and completely in the moment.
This is something we forget how to do as we grow older. The baggage of life accumulates in our mind and slowly we forget how to enjoy the NOW. Responsibilities take control of our mind. We are always in the past or the future…rarely in the moment. Looking at the past we feel the guilt we carry about things we did, or should have done, or should have done differently. Looking to the future, we worry about things we need to do, decisions we need to make, things that might happen. But so rarely, do we as adults take the time to be right here, right now, in the moment, completely and fully PRESENT. Be here, NOW.
