What Do You See?

Here you go again!  Alarm going off and out of the bed you go.  You grab your coffee and get ready.  You rush out the door, hurry to work, crank out your day, come home, eat dinner, and before you know it, you are back in bed.  The cycle continues and the days become weeks, the weeks become months, and the months become years.  You find yourself waking up one day and wondering where the time has gone.  Well, it is gone, and you cannot get it back.  Yes, there are many things in this life that we can control, however, unfortunately, we are not able to jump in our DeLorean and take a trip back in time, Marty McFly…

I enjoy ancient philosophy and am reminded of Epictetus, who simply advises us to control what we can control.  We cannot control time passing; however, we can control how we are present in that time. 

When COVID-19 shut everything down, I began taking a meditation course.  Through this course, I have learned that by practicing, we can all train ourselves to be more present, aware, and ultimately more content with our lives.  Something as simple as noticing the smile of a loved one, the aroma of food, and even the sound of birds chirping in the morning.  These are things that happen every day and, in our haste, we pass them by, and they do not even register in our minds. 

In the Marine Corps we used to conduct “observation” exercises.  The sergeant would hide some small objects and using high powered optics, we would search for them.  I was so surprised during the first couple of exercises, I would miss several of the hidden objects, however after the exercise was over, the sergeant would have us observe while he pointed to each object.  It was amazing how I could see them; I had just not noticed them.  Over time, with practice, I was able to find more objects during these exercises.  I believe the same principle applies here.  As I train myself to become more aware and more present, I am finding that I notice things that I did not before.  As I continue this practice, I feel that it makes me more grateful.  Also, I feel that it is making me a better husband, father, co-worker, and friend.

This may or may not be for you, however if you are flying through the cycle of life and truly want to enjoy every day, I would encourage you to give meditation a try.  Just like the sergeant pointing to the objects after the “observation” exercise, you will see things that you did not even realize were there and through practice, you will improve.  You will begin noticing just how many amazing things you experience each day and through that awareness, more happiness and fulfillment overall.