What Does it Mean to be Fully Present?

In certain circles, you may have heard “Be in the moment.” or “Be here now.”

The words may resonate with you. You might even catch yourself saying to yourself, “Yes I want that.  You might say to yourself, “Well yes I am in the moment. I am here!”

But what is staying in the moment really?

If we really take a moment to see what’s going on, we begin to realize we’re often lost in a story, a thought, a belief or a creation of what we think is there or maybe even caught up in something else completely and not even there at all!

This is more evident is simple, everyday tasks like washing the dishes or driving to work.

Let’s reflect on washing the dishes. A simple, often mindless task.

After you finish washing the dishes, do you remember grabbing the soap or feeling each dish? You were likely in some thought about what to cook for dinner or that argument you had at work. You were not engaged in the experience of washing the dishes. And you might even realize you feel anxious because it’s really just a time you use to worry about what’s coming next…It might not even be true that you don’t like washing the dishes. You simply don’t like the anxious feeling you have when you do them.

Have you ever driven to work and when you pull in, you don’t remember how you got there? You were on auto-pilot. You did not consciously drive there!

When you go to the beach, what do you see? Are you really there or are you in some past thought or future event? Most of us, if we’re being honest, are not really at the beach. We are simply living out some story in our heads. “I need to take out the trash when I get home…”  or “Why don’t I come to the beach more often and better yet, let’s take that vacation to Fiji, I need to plan that. Shoot, we can’t afford it.”

And the story is probably not even a good one.

Next time you’re at the beach, I invite you to see what unfolds when you are fully there.

Take some time to see how the water crumbles to the shore.
And then goes back to where it came.

See the water ripple over stones and shells.
And then returns to the source.

“I need to fix this problem at work!” Are you in your thoughts?

You just missed that wave, that baby dolphin, that shimmering beam of light hit the water.

Are you thinking about work tomorrow?
Then you missed the seagull fly over head and swoop down to bask in the sun.

You missed the sunlight dancing on the waves.
And the child splashing in the tide pools.

You missed the clouds overhead and the sand beneath your feet.
You failed to see the sea crab as it burrows to the sand and the palm trees waving in the wind.

Being the moment is just that, being there.
Fully feeling and being with what presents itself now.

If you’re lost in yesterday, you’ll surely miss what’s presented. If you’re caught up in future planning, you’ll miss the scene for you now.

Are you here now?
Are you fully in the space as you read these words?

Do you have to read this again because you were thinking about taking the dog out or making dinner for the kids? It’s ok. Just come back now and be here with the words.

Be here now as you read these words.

• Feel intensely alive right now
• The moment is full of color
• Creativity and inspiration unfold
• Insights appear
• Ideas flow naturally
• It just feels good