‘We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.’~Voltaire
I have been spending a lot of time in the car lately. Over the summer, I discovered an application for my phone, courtesy of Amazon (I wish I had bought stock in that company!!), that's called Audible. It's a site where you can browse a large selection of books, read reviews, get samples, buy and download a book and then turn it on and have a book read to you. I have been read to at home, in the gym and in the car. I have the books on my phone, on my computer, and on my Kindle. It automatically syncs with any device I'm using, and picks up right where I left off on another device - - magical!
Since April, I have had a very hard time reading a book and concentrating on what I'm reading, so when I found this app, I was thrilled.
Last week I listened to "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown. I had never heard of it, but it got good reviews and seemed very appropriate for what's currently happening in my life.
The author discussed how we conform to the expectations of others and miss the important things in our life. She gives examples, talks about her own imperfections, and then suggests ways we can stop conforming and start living.
The section that really caught my attention was about how we rush our lives away. We are always in a hurry to get to the next thing in life without stopping long enough to just be in the moment. This is how I have been living for as long as I can remember. I sometimes feel like I wished away my life, waiting for, and anticipating the next stage of life without enjoying the stage I was in.
I have been making a concerted effort to be in the moment, trying not to think about the list of things I need to do and the places I should be instead of where I am. I have been very conscious of my surroundings and the people that I encounter, and I've tried not to be impatient when things aren't moving at the speed I would like them to be moving.
"Why are you in such a rush?" is my new question to myself. I think if I can stop skipping ahead to the next thing before the current thing is over, I will reap the benefits.
Oh, oh, oh!!! Fantastic. I haven't thought about that, ever! It's so true.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Eva. It's a shame that we tend to learn this so late in life. It would be wonderful if people were taught this when they are young. Maybe some people would actually live it. But, the sad thing is that the society we live in forces us to do a lot of the rushing we do. The rest is self imposed. Thanks for a thoughtful post, Eva.
ReplyDeletePasgarvey, thank you for reading, and thank you for the great reply! Here's to slower, more aware days to come!!
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