Reflection & Action: Race to the shower Race to the closet. Race to the coffee pot. Race to the car. Race to work. Race to a meeting. Race to lunch. Race to the dentist. Race back to work. Race to another meeting and then another meeting. Race to the dry cleaner. Race to the supermarket. Race home. Race through dinner. Race youngster number one to soccer practice, youngster number two to a music lesson, and yourself to a community meeting. Race home again. Collapse into bed. Wake up tomorrow and start the race all over again.

Does anything about that race sound familiar? How much of your day do you spend, meeting yourself coming and going?

In the hustle and pressure of daily life, it’s so easy to be anywhere else but present. We find ourselves trapped in regreats about yesterday or filled with anxiety for tomorrow. Yet this place – this moment in time – is really all we have. If we’ve missed it, then it’s gone forever.

The challenge for each one of us is to be here now. Post-race and post-haste, here’s a simple way to settle down and be more present.

Try this: Stand or sit still for just a few seconds. (Yes, you can spare ten seconds. It’s your life after all.)

As you breathe in, draw the word here into your mind. As you breathe out, bring the word now into your mind. Repeat three times.

Pause to check: Are you here now? Take every opportunity to shift your attention from hurry to here.

Quotes Of The Week: The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. – Henry Miller

Each moment is a place you’ve never been. – Mark Strand

Readers Write: JM writes: Here’s my trick to get into the ‘now’. I stop and pay attention to what my senses are telling me: sight, sound, feel, etc. Then I stop the ‘race’ by taking a moment to be grateful for something. Getting in touch with my senses, in combination with a grateful thought, sends a wave of warmth over me that breaks the race-rush tension.

DG writes: Being still (physically, mentally, emotionally) creates a wonderful, peaceful place that’s often missing in my life. My focus is helping to create a more peaceful, healthy and joyful world. These qualities are all accessible in the inner world if I am willing to be still and allow them to be seen!

Summer Reading Bookshelf: Ever wonder how our minds work and what might make them work even better? I’m hoping to find out more as I dip into John Medina’s book: Brain Rules – 12 Principles For Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home & School.