Daily Gratitude: “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

This is great. It’s a simple summary of how we should live each day. We should pay attention to as much as we can. That doesn’t mean to become easily distractible. It means to get out of ourselves. We usually live in a mall. Huh? Yes, a big fancy mall with no windows, doors at either end, and lots of shops.

We park our cars (get up in the morning) and head for a door to the mall (our life that day). Once inside we are pretty sure we know where we want to go. So. We don’t bother with the directory. If we did take even a short glance at it, we’d see many different options for us to explore and perhaps enrich our day. But, no. We traipse along, head down, hoping other people aren’t staring at us, and make our way to the Apple Store (our destination for today’s segment of life).

Once at the Apple Store we conduct our business interacting with other people perhaps, viewing all the bright shiny objects, and most importantly, checking our trusty Apple Watch to see if it’s time to go home.

At lunch we don’t even go outside. We take the escalator to the Food Court, and grab the same old dull processed lunch we had yesterday. We don’t consider another store. That would involve decisions and right then making decisions seems too hard.

Back to the Apple Store to finish out the day – 8 or more hours inside this mall, doing the same thing hour after hour. Breathing the same air over and over (supposedly it’s “recycled”), things feel stuffy.

It’s time to head home and out we go to our car. We’re surprised that it’s rained. And it seems there may have been some flash flooding (imagine you’re in Texas for this scenario).

But you’re so tired that all you care about is whether your route home is blocked. You don’t care about accidents that have happened, people who have been stranded. You just want to get home so you can start the entire routine again.

What did you pay attention to? What were you astonished by? Whom did you tell about your day?

Can you take one day or one portion of a day and skip the mall of life and go to the park (doing a hobby, perhaps)? Once you’re there, can you pay attention and find one thing to be astonished about (it may take some time but it’s possible)? And then go tell others about it?

Daily Gratitude: “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

This is a great way to practice gratitude for all life’s gifts. You don’t even need to know who planted the tree you’re sitting under. Just acknowledging that you didn’t make it to where you see now by yourself is a major key.

If you look around you right now, you’ll see so many things that make your life doable and comfortable. Stop and say “thank you” for each and every one of those things. Without the person who invented it built or delivered them for you, you’d be out in the cold (or heat) on your own.

The roads you drive on, even with their potholes. The cars you’re driving. The places you’re going. The clothes you’re wearing. The air conditioning blowing on your face. The coffee in the cup holder. The cardboard or plastic cup the coffee is in.

See how many things you can spot that help make your life easier. Do this all the time but especially when you’re feeling down or things don’t seem to be going right. Just remember that they don’t seem to be going right because they arent going the way you expect them to; not that they aren’t going right in the grand scheme of your life. You are not all knowing. Things happen and it’s our job to think about whomever and whatever planted the tree that got us sitting here in the shade.

Be grateful even if you don’t know what the outcome will be. It will be all right.

Daily Gratitude: “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”

We hear about this all the time. “Be present”, “Be mindful” etc. But what does that really mean and how do we do it?

I believe that being in the present moment is different for everyone. It can be taken very literally but that’s hard to do. As I write this I’m too much in the present moment as for some reason, my kitchen has been overtaken by flies, real flies, not fruit flies. I have no idea where they came from or what to do. It’s ruined my morning routine as I am taking off for Vol State and can only envision the disaster that will await when I return, So, all I can think of is the flies. That’s defnitely being in the present moment,

Do I want to stay there? It’s not a pleasant place to be and it’s not productive. I don’t want my eulogy to talk about how my last moments were zen thoughts about flies. So, I think we have to be realistic. Often when someone is in pain, it helps to think of some place calm and serene that they’d like to be. It’s the same process as dissociation but this is voluntary. When dissociation usually occurs it’s an unconscious thing due to some horrific or intolerable trauma. But you can practice dissociating to help ease your discomfort. This is NOT a bad thing if it helps you deal with pain.

I think that being in the present moment can best be done by practicing gratitude. Going on a long car ride might have you thinking about what’s going to happen when you get there or who you’ll be with etc. You can, though, concentrate on the wonders and beauty surrounding you. Even looking at the various cars you’re passing or who are passing you can fill you with gratitude. Think about who invented them and why – where did the ideas come from. Why did one person think this or that improvement would be better. But then come back to your own life and be grateful that someone, anyone had the idea to create a car. What would your life be like without it. Be thankful.

Practice this on your way to work or church or school or to a hobby. Whatever. Look around your room or house as you read this. What (or who) can you be grateful for?

What’s your definition of being in the present moment?