Some more thoughts on immersing yourself in the moment

I was thinking yesterday about HOW to actually live in the moment. For some people I guess it just comes naturally. But I'm not one of those people. So I came up with a list of things that I think living in the moment constitutes. Here 'goes.

First - evaluate the situation. This is simply mindfulness. Or awareness. Or just being good at observing. Whatever you want to call it, it's pretty important if you want to immerse yourself and live fully in the moment you're in. And if you're like me, you don't do it well. You're too busy thinking about what you need to do before the day is over to notice something beautiful that's happening RIGHT NOW. I want to be intentional about improving in this area.

So here I go. For this moment, right here. (This is something my counselor just taught me.) I am lying on my stomach on the bed, writing a new post for my blog. My back hurts a little. (Hey, switch positions, genius! See? Already I've benefited from slowing down and being intentionally mindful.) Okay. So now I'm sitting cross-legged on my bed. My bed isn't made. The room is pretty messy - my husbands clothes are everywhere, and there's a stack of blankets piled up at the foot of the bed. I'm wearing a purple sweater with a snowflake turtleneck underneath it. Brown pants. White socks. Outside I can hear a bird calling. A couple of different birds, now that I'm really listening. And a plane. I can't smell very well because my nose is still stopped up from the cold I just got over. The temperature in here is comfortable. I'm writing about things that are important to me and will hopefully one day be helpful to someone else.

There. Like that. Situation evaluated. Oh, and my girls are asleep and the house is QUIET! Which is nice. I feel at peace. But that's the next step.

Moving on. So first evaluate the situation. Take in your surroundings, take in what's happening. Take stuff in. Second - identify your thoughts and feelings. For example, right now I feel at peace because the house is quiet and there's nothing demanding my attention right now. I'm resting, somewhat. Writing, but still at least physically resting, except my fingers. I'm thinking about how to word all of this so it will 1) make sense and 2) not be too wordy, which is something else I struggle with. I'm wondering if I should maybe take a break and just lay back and ponder stuff for a while. Meditate on God. Or if I should finish this first and risk missing out on the solitude I need because I don't know when the girls will wake up.

Okay. Third thing I came up with - identify your available options or choices. At least, the ones that you can think of at the moment. There's always a chance that later on you'll look back and realize you could have done something else, and maybe it would have been a better choice... but if you didn't think of it until afterwards, it doesn't really help, does it? So. My available choices right now are 1) finish the post, or 2) take a break and get some solitude before my husband gets home or my girls wake up. I also have tons of smaller choices going on - how to word these sentences, for example, but I've been writing for a while and somehow my brain seems to process my options in wording without me really having to be intentional about it. Which could be good or bad, I guess. Another choice - keep going off on this tangent, or return to the original train of thought. :)

Returning to my original train of thought. Fourth on my list - weigh your options against your values and beliefs. Hmm. So for me, right now in this moment... I know I have a tendency to be a little too goal-oriented for my own liking. I would rather be more relaxed about things so I can genuinely enjoy them. But, like I am right now, I naturally tend to get fixated on "completing the task" rather than enjoying the task and working wholeheartedly. So, I genuinely value living in the moment, but out of habit I tend towards trying to stack up accomplishments as if I can find my worth in the number of tasks I've completed. Interesting. Now, as I'm sitting here writing all of this down and realizing what's going on, I'm happy to report I have slowed down my typing. I am stopping and really thinking about what I want to say. And I feel more content. Fuller. Richer. So that's cool.

So. The fifth item on my list is really just a natural extension of the fourth. Choose, and of course, act on your choice. In this case I have decided to go ahead and finish the post, but to slow down considerably and pull myself out of "get it done and published" mode and into "do this with all your heart" mode. Which is good. It supports another value I have. Wholeheartedness. You can't do everything (though sometimes we try, don't we?!), so choose wisely - and whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart. I've also heard it worded "if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well." I tried to use the search engine to find out who said that, but all I found out was that it was a "proverb." Well, thank you, search engine. :)

Well, that's all I had. What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you have your own methods to "train" yourself to dwell more fully in the moment?