A slight breeze ruffles the leaves on the maple to my left. In an adjacent tree, a mourning dove releases its soulful cry. A quarter-full cup of now room temperature coffee sits next to a fly-fishing magazine on the table, inches from my resting feet.
There are no expectations in this moment. No troubles on my mind. Nothing but peace and tranquility waft over me as I stare at the birds visiting the feeder and contemplate another cup of Sumatra roast. Where does the magic in this moment come from? And why doesn’t every moment feel like this?
Maybe it is so tranquil because of all the small things in the moment: coffee, birds, breeze, etc.. Maybe it is a choice, that I have chosen to feel nothing but calm on this Sunday morning. Maybe it is the fact that I have no time obligations outside my wife and daughter today.
In this moment I am the master of my time. Nothing in the world to distract me from being 100% present with where I am right now. It’s a beautiful feeling. But again, how does one maintain this feeling all day?
It’s easy to focus on the beauty in this moment when there is nothing else vying for my attention. The rest of the day will introduce more and more things, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue to feel this way. To feel like this is a choice. A choice to be present. A choice not to let the distractions of the day build up and clutter my mind.
In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius says “The longest lived and those who will die soonest lose the same thing. The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do not have, you cannot lose.”
Just being present is enough. No negative distractions, nothing to taint the calm. No garbage screaming for my attention. Cultivating a mindset that allows for, and appreciates, these moments and truly living in this exact moment. To let go of any thought that distracts from the magic of right now. A mental elimination diet so to speak.
Mental clarity and appreciation for the present. Not rushing to the next thing, and the next, and the next, until I’m an old man on my deathbed wishing I had all that rushed time back. Complete focus on the feeling of that breeze across my skin mixed with a tingle from the morning sun. Zero mental capacity spent generating negativity.
Dozens of little choices led to this moment. To feel this way is a choice, a destination arrived at after all those choices made.
Just being present is enough.