Note to Self:
If you're like most people and aren't we all like most people when you get right down to it, then you haven't been experiencing much.
Does it sound nonsensical? Well, think of it like this: Georgia O'Keeffe, when questioned about her detailed flower paintings, said that no one really sees a flower because to really see a flower takes time.
No doubt it does take time and not a little. But I'd like to add something, with apologies to Ms. O'Keeffe. To see a flower takes time and it requires paying attention to what you're looking at.
Here's a little secret. If you're not paying attention to what's happening around you, then you aren't paying attention to your life. One day you'll find yourself wondering where all the time went.
I see people who think they're taking the dog for a walk, but they're so involved in their phones that they are unaware of the dog's wants and needs. I see people with their young children in restaurants and other public places. The children are trying to get the parent's attention but the parents are lost in the virtual world of their digital device. The children's voices are in the background somewhere.
Those children will grow up very quickly and one day the parents will remember little of their own children's childhoods.
If you want to really experience your life, you've got to spend some time paying attention. Stop living with that facade you show to everyone else and get to know who you really are.
Simply stated, get real!
If you really want a life that you can appreciate, then you have to be present in that life and take some action to keep yourself on a path of total awareness.
Studies show that most people, the same people I was referring to in that first sentence, spend half their time caught up in the movies that play in their minds. It's as though they walk through a dark theater, unable to see the things and the people around them, and conscious only of the bright, attention-grabbing movie projected on the screen in their minds.
How's that working out for you?
There is a zen saying that goes, "When chopping wood, just chop wood; when carrying water, just carry water." It's a good principle to live by. Pay attention to what you're actually doing and you will find that you not only do it better, you enjoy doing it more.