Okay,
How often do you find yourself racing through the day?
You're eating your breakfast while thinking about an upcoming meeting,
Or half listening to a conversation while mentally drafting an email,
Or just rushing through one task just so you can get to the next.
Sometimes it feels like we're on an invisible conveyor belt.
We're always moving forward,
But we're never really noticing the scenery around us.
So maybe let's pause that conveyor belt for just a little bit.
If you can,
Settle yourself into a comfortable position.
You can be seated or lying down,
Doesn't matter.
And close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Let's take a slow full breath in and a steady easy breath out.
For the next few minutes there is nowhere that you need to get to.
There's nothing that you need to finish.
You can,
For right now,
Let go of what's next and simply be here.
You can notice the feeling of your body,
Where it meets the chair or the floor,
The bed.
Feel the air on your skin.
See if you can notice any sounds around you.
The hum of a fan or any distant voices or traffic.
The quiet of the room or just the music that you hear here in the background.
Now we're just seeing if we can let this moment be enough.
It doesn't have to be a stepping stone to something better.
Not a bridge to the future,
But a complete moment on its own.
You're here,
Right now.
You know,
So often we think of life in milestones,
Graduations or promotions,
Vacations.
But the truth is life's happening right now,
In these small passing instants.
And when we rush through them,
We're not really living them.
We're gonna take a few breaths and I'd invite you to notice your lungs expanding,
Your shoulders shifting,
Your chest and belly rising.
Just breathe.
Recognize that you are a life in this exact moment.
Presence is about really tasting your coffee,
Not gulping it down or noticing the warmth of the Sun instead of rushing inside to cool off.
Or pausing to feel the rain instead of just hurrying through it.
The musician Roger Miller reminds us,
Some people walk in the rain,
Others just get wet.
And that's the difference between rushing through life and truly living it.
So my challenge to you today is to see if you can feel the rain in your own way.
Whether that's enjoying the texture of a meal or the softness of a blanket,
The laughter of someone you love or the sense of accomplishment in completing a task.
So as we prepare to close out,
Let's take one last slow breath in and a nice long easy breath out.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes or lift your gaze.
And as you return to your day,
Remember,
Notice the moments that you're tempted to rush through.
And you can even ask yourself,
What would it be like to experience this moment fully?
Because life isn't only in the big events,
It's here,
Now,
In any moment that we choose to truly feel.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy and may you be at peace.
Thank you so much for joining me.
