Live in present time – #now is all there is.

Do we ever really live in present time? Aren’t we distracted with instagram, facebook, tumblr and twitter? As technology moves closer and closer to our hearts, we’re sacrificing a bit of our consciousness for the sake of connectivity. The other morning in meditation an idea past across my mind like a delightful cloud going by on a lazy summer’s afternoon. Live in present time. That’s what was written on the big fluffy cloud floating through my brain. Live in present time.

The cloud and the thought past and as I’ve trained my mind to do with years of meditation, I brought my focus back to my breathing. The idea faded into the ethers as I returned to meditative bliss. The experience wasn’t anything new. I have similiar experiences every morning during my daily meditation.

It wasn’t until I was on my way to work that the thought reemerged from deep in my subconcious. I was sitting quietly on the ferry traversing the Hudson from Weehawken to midtown Manhattan. Spotify was playing on my iphone as I scanned my instagram feed – listening, reading, posting – tweeting my morning away. As I looked out of the boat’s window over the sheets of ice that had taken over the Hudson’s surface, a flash of light reflecting off the water caught my eye. Then a small piece of ice broke from a larger sheet as the boat made it’s way across the river. The smaller piece slid across the frozen river like a hockey puck. It reminded me of my youth and cold winter hockey games on Blachford’s pond. Live in present time. There it was again – that idea that I’m missing out on life’s most precious moments because I’m distracted by the lastest technology. Ice on the Hudson is a rarety. In fact, every moment is rare. The thought you just had or the person you just saw, may never pass your way again.

Since that experience on the Hudson, I’ve been stopping, breathing and experiencing moments of divine beauty. Every moment comes fully loaded with more beauty than we can ever imagine. It’s our responsibility to engage in the now and taste each exquisite morsel that life has to offer.

Live in present time. Now is all there is.