I was listening to a couple of young men talking two days ago. One of them was trying to describe to the other what mindfulness was –

It”s all about being in the present moment.You know,” he said “like us sitting here talking about it now. I figured I knew what it was, my mother is always going on about it…. until one day ages later when I couldn’t sleep…my mind was going…so I started  concentrating on being in the moment – everything around me, the blanket on me and the smells in the room. I don’t know how long I did it before I realized my mind had stopped and I was TOTALLY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT!”

To me this young man had an “ah hah” moment where the words he had heard many times turned into the experience they represented.  It felt so good to hear him move beyond a cognitive understanding into an experiential learning of a life long skill.

Let’s hope we can all stop long enough to move beyond words and enjoy more of life in the moment.