Is it about maximizing the moment, or experiencing the moment?
Happy Friday!
Greetings from Turks & Caicos, where I’m enjoying some fun in the sun time with my amazing family. (It’s true – jetsetting from Colombia to the beach… I’m a spoiled girl, extremely lucky girl… however also a very grateful girl!)
In this moment, I’m sitting by the pool, watching children splash and play, watching drinks splash and swirl, watching people splash and smile.
I’m witnessing a moment in time.
And it may just be this moment right now, wherever you are, perhaps an insignificant moment you may not give much thought to, that becomes a special moment in your life.
Perhaps it’s the epic soundtrack music I’m listening to, however in this moment, although not jumping out of a plane or climbing a volcano, I‘m still having an experience, right here, right now.
Now I’ll admit I’m a self-confessed maximizer.
I want to make the most of every situation, say yes to every opportunity, squeeze in every experience possible.
However in an effort to want to maximize my time, maximize every experience, I wonder if sometimes I end up minimizing some of the moments that truly matter.
These moments, like the one I’m having right here, right now, are the ones that make up your life.
And yet if we’re trying too hard to create a moment, or force a moment, we may end up losing out on the moment.
I like doing things. And, if I’m honest, I also like feeling as though I’m doing things. Checking things off the list so to speak.
This week, I haven’t done a whole heck of a lot. At least, not with respect to ‘checking things’ off any list.
But maybe I’ve done more than I realize.
I’ve enjoyed time with my family. I’ve had special conversations. I’ve played with Elmo, danced on the stage with Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street friends, had lots of fun potty trips with my niece and nephew, and lathered on a whole heck of a lot of kids’ sunscreen.
I like maximizing. I like doing things. I like lists. And yet perhaps I’m realizing it’s not always about checking things off any list at all.
Living your life cannot be captured in a do-to list.
So this week, at some point I challenge you to put away your list, and be open to experiencing a moment in time, this moment in time, and enjoying it for what it is. No need to maximize anything. Just experience.
Deep thoughts from sitting in the sun, HA!
Have a FAB week!
What are your thoughts on maximizing versus experiencing? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Well, what a most wonderfully timed post! I wonder about my own need to be “doing” and how we’ve been so thoroughly trained that idling is not healthy. This week, I seemed to have stopped trusting the universe and proceeded to try and make plans and bring about control. But it was like trying to hold onto a giant pile of sand without spilling a spec. Impossible unless I squeeze my hands together and don’t move at all. I’m going to sit in my chair and stare outside (I’d go outside but it’s -18C ) and appreciate the amazingness of this moment! Love to you my sweet inspirational friend!
Angie, I so appreciate you taking the time to share your honest thoughts… isn’t it interesting how we really have bene trained to be ‘doing’ things all of the time. I totally get feeling the need to ‘control’ ~ and yet, like you, have found it impossible. Trusting the Universe is not always easy, and yet I am committed (and okay) with it very much being a work in progress for me! I hope you enjoyed and cherished that moment, and that there will be many more to come…
I have been doing that a lot lately…maybe its about the age…I often sit and take in my surroundings and then reflex how blessed I am. I am sitting here at my computer and look out the window at this enormous Blue Jay sitting and eating the pine cones off my ceder…he is big….Well spring is coming I had the Canadian Geese fly over my house last Wednesday..and they are honking at night across the street…in the bay…So even though I am not down south where it is warm with a drink in my hand by the pool….which I would love to do again real soon…I do take time out of my day to see, smell, taste and hear around me….God bless! And have fun….
Gabrielle, thank you so much for your thoughtful comments… and I am so inspire to hear of you being in the present moment and taking in your surroundings. Not always easy to do, however so important – and it seems you have mastered it! 🙂
Yes, Carol … this is great to hear! 🙂 I have learned to do this over the last few years. It’s not always about ‘doing’ and sometimes it’s about ‘being’. I know … easier said than done. Yesterday, I sat on the kitchen floor with our 2 puppies and just snuggled with them. Our house is up for sale as we are moving and they have had a huge adjustment with all the people coming though. It was fantastic and was good for both of us! Great to hear your remote year is so awesome and look forward to more updates.
Camilla, so wonderful to hear you have PUPPIES! And that you were able to enjoy a much needed moment of cuddling with them… good for them and for you it sounds like! It’s true, ‘being’ versus ‘doing’ is not always easy ~ and yet so worth putting in the practice :-). Good luck with the sell of the house ~ keep me posted!