If you go through life with a teflon coating, you miss out. So often it’s a matter of incorrectly thinking we have too much to do to take the extra time to enjoy our surroundings.
I would argue that much of what one misses/lets slip by unnoticed, takes little or no extra time. Paying attention to how good something tastes-no extra time. Listening to the neat-o sound the sprinkler makes-no extra time. Taking note of how nice a slippery bar of soap feels as it glides along your face-no extra time. Inhaling deeply the smell of fresh laundry as you switch a load from washer to dryer-no extra time.
Why do we miss noticing most of these pleasures? Usually our mind is distracted. Often we miss the here and now as we replay the past. We’ve all experienced spending too much time thinking and rethinking a subject. I’m suggesting that you turn off that virtual video loop that plays endlessly in your head. But, you have to decide to pull yourself into the here and now.
Be porous. Soak up every delicious, fragrant, soft, beautiful moment. Eat your potato chips slowly. Pay attention to just how good the tingly toothpaste and scratchy brush feel on your gums. When you step out the front door each morning, inhale deeply, there’s bound to be something interesting on the wind. Appreciate how great it feels to scratch an itch. Search for the beauty and the joy in the objects and activities of your life. It’s there, always. You just have to decide to notice!
And, if you think there’s nothing beautiful to see in the places you inhabit each day, I challenge you to look again. Rusty stuff=beautiful. Water running in the gutter=beautiful. The sun and the shadows it creates=beautiful. The flicker of the light in a subway tunnel=you got it, also beautiful. All so beautiful.
Smile. Be Happy.
Ruth