Do you ever notice that you can complete an entire task without even thinking about it? Sometimes I’ll drive home from work and by the time I get home, I realize that I didn’t notice anything about the ride home. Or, I’ll be eating dinner and multitasking, and I realize that I didn’t really even taste the food.

I’ve read quite a few books by Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, author, poet and peace activist. He’s published more than 100 books, one of my favorites being “Peace Is Every Step”. His writing is so peaceful and calm and I use his books alot in my meditation sessions! Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, serenity. We only need to be awake, alive in the present moment.

 

So let’s be awake and in the present moment together! Let’s stop and notice what we are doing in each moment. Let’s be more aware of the present, instead of always thinking about the past and the future. This is really hard to do throughout the course of a day, but being perfect about it isn’t the point. Thich Nhat Hanh says to stop and do it once in a while, at different times of the day, and just notice the little things. And savour them!

What little things will you savor? 

I plan to savor the moments with my little puppy. He’s already six months old and growing so fast. Each day I wake up and he’s a little bit bigger and a little bit fluffier. Sometimes I’m too focused on stuff I’m working on that I don’t notice he brought me his little stuffed toy to play fetch with. I plan to stop and stay in the moment and appreciate his little puppy moments.

I plan to savor the moment with Nick walks through the door at the end of a long day at work. It’s my favorite part of the day, and to see him smiled at me and give him a huge hug makes everything better! Instead of continuing what I’m doing (working on the computer or making dinner) I’ll stop what I’m doing and make sure I go say hello :)

I plan to savor the drive to and from work every day. I am lucky to only live about ten minutes from work, and most days I get grumpy easily is there’s a little traffic. But there’s no reason to be. The short commute is a blessing and it’s a great time to think of all the things I’m thankful for.

When we slow down and experience the little moments in life, they can be incredible. Life won’t pass us by as quickly as it normally does, which can be a good thing.