Every day, we open our eyes, get out of bed, eat breakfast, brush our teeth, talk to our families, do our work. And most of the time, our minds are somewhere else. When we get out of bed, we are thinking about something we should have done yesterday; when we walk to the bathroom, we are thinking about the chocolate we shouldn't have eaten. Or how great our lives are going to be when we lose weight or get a promotion or fall in love.
This lack of attention leads to a tremendous spiritual hunger that we can't quite name. We get fooled into thinking that it's about something we don't have yet, when it's really something that is unfolding minute by minute, right in front of our eyes. We keep believing that if we go after the next big thing, the hunger will be filled. And yet over and over we find that filling the hunger isn't about acquiring more things; it's about noticing what we already have and already are.
If you try to follow your thoughts, you get lost in fantasies, resentments, and anticipated disappointments. You get to the end of a day -- or the end of your life -- and you wonder where you've been. (And the answer is: lost in thought!)
In the morning, before you get out of bed, focus your attention on your right foot, feeling your toes, your ankles, the back of your foot, your arch. Then begin sensing your calf, your shin, your knees. Continue moving all the way up through your right hip, and then focus on your right hand, fingers, wrist, and elbow. When you get to the shoulder, move across to your left shoulder and down this arm to your hand; then go from the left hip to the left foot. This will help you land in your body and bring your mind back to the present moment; it will give you a kind of mountain-solid feeling.
When you are present, nothing is missing. Time seems to stretch. And the reason it does is because it's our thoughts that make us feel so rushed. Presence enables you to see that this body, your home, the place you've spent years trying to change, is a pretty cool place to be. - Geneen Roth
Come homne to yourself