“There are no ordinary moments.”

This line from the movie The Peaceful Warrior has always stuck with me. In the movie, Dan, a very driven, focused college gymnast, is learning the power of being present from his teacher, Socrates. The main lesson is this. If you are fully focused in the present, you will notice that extraordinary things are always happening.

Many of us miss the magic in the moments of our lives because we are focused on getting something done or getting somewhere else. We turn life into a mental exercise rather than a multi-faceted experience. We block our sensations, experiences and emotions because we see them as distractions. Yet, it is these very things that connect us with, and allow us to have, the full experience of each moment.

So, how do you know if you are fully present? Let’s do a few exercises to see what being present feels like:

Check out your thoughts.

What are you thinking about right now? (Yes, you can be reading this and thinking about something else at the same time.) Write down the gist of your thoughts.

  • If you wrote down something that has to do with the past or the future, chances are you are not fully present right now.
  • When your mind is at ease and you are observing, you are being present.

    • Tip: Take a deep breath, focus on clearing your mind and just look around.

    Focus on what you are feeling.

    Fill in the blank in the following sentence.

    Right now I am feeling ________________.

    As soon as you focus on what you are feeling, you are in present time. Emotions are experienced in the NOW.

    Tip: Connect with your emotions and you will be present.

    Connect with your body.

    Get up and move! Stand up and stretch and shake your arms and legs. Now look around and see how things look to you.

    Tip: Connecting with and/or moving your body brings you right smack dab into the middle of NOW.

    Now that was pretty easy, wasn’t it! Small things can yield big benefits.

    When you stay present with what you are doing or observing, and expand your awareness to take in what is around you, there are no ordinary moments.

    Just Imagine That!