Category: Being Present

There’s quite possibly going to be a day, at some point in the not so distant future, when you’re going to miss… the busyness.

A day when you’re maybe retired… kids are maybe grown up and living their own independent lives… spouse maybe isn’t around for one reason or another… and you’re sitting by yourself reflecting back on the days when, from morning to night, there was non-stop life.

When there was constant activity… emotional roller coasters… and never enough time to get it all done.

And you’ll be thinking about that while sitting in a living room chair… maybe eating a meal… wondering where all the life activity went.

Today, maybe try and appreciate the busyness of your day for what it is: life being lived. The very life you’re going to reflect back on at some point in your not so distant future. The very life you’re unknowingly rushing fast forward through towards a point that’s going to make you want to come right back.

Today, maybe try being here… with us… right now…

It’s never coming back.

Slowing down is the key to presence. Rushing through moments or experiences makes you miss life.

Slowing down is the key to confidence. Rushing through movement or words is a sign of nerves or inexperience.

Slowing down is the key to connection. Rushing through conversation or time together leaves relationships at the superficial.

Slowing down is the key to introspection. Rushing to your nearest screen in times of boredom leaves your inner landscape unexplored and self-understanding at bay.

Slowing down is the key to creativity and expression. Rushing to fill your calendar and schedule leaves you with no time to settle… to play… to explore… to remix… to build or create…

If you’re looking for a simple strategy that can greatly improve your daily experience… I can’t think of a better strategy than this: slow… the heck… down.

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P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

• I noticed I was holding a thought for this blog… and that I was forcing myself to stick to a routine rather than simply aligning with this rare moment of inspiration from my muse and writing it out. Once I noticed it, I chose alignment instead.

• I noticed I was making myself feel guilty for having a slow morning. I slept in, allowed myself extra time to watch videos as I woke up, took a longer than usual shower… and then realized, this is something I’ve earned. Slow mornings are one of life’s real luxuries and is something I should embrace and align with when possible—not make myself feel guilty about.

• While I was writing the above bullet point, I noticed I wrote, “Woke up late” where I now have, “Slept in.” I didn’t wake up late… I intentionally decided to sleep in. Woke up late sounds like I made a mistake… like I missed my alarm… like I had something to feel guilty about… but I didn’t. It was intentional and rewriting it allowed me to own that.

• I noticed an urge to rush to “catch up” after I finally started my morning tasks. I wanted to get my workout done so I could finish my quote curating and daily writing so I could get my car cleaned so I could go food shopping so I could finish my taxes… and then I realized, rushing is how time is wasted. And today, I decided I didn’t want to waste any of it.

• And finally, I noticed that noticing is a lot easier when you’re not rushing. And noticing is step one towards essentially all inner work growth.

I was speaking to a parent the other day and we were both commenting on how fast this last year went by.

Like… 2025?! …What??

And not only were we amazed at how fast the year went by… but at how it feels like the years go by faster and faster each year.

One of the reasons for this, I’d say, is that with each year we get busier and busier.

When we contextualize this within the span of a day, you’d see the same pattern. The busier you are, the quicker the day goes by.

The antidote to this then, if you’re looking to better soak in and fully absorb the time of your life, is to deliberately find time when you can un-busy yourself.

Time when you can just sit… and meditate for a little while.

Time when you can just walk… and notice the world you often take for granted.

Time when you can just reflect… and emphasize the happenings of the day, sort through the thoughts of your mind, and solidify key moments that you want to carry with you there forward.

As obvious as it sounds, my feeling is that far too many don’t make time for this.

If you want time to slow down… you have to slow down.

More un-busy time is the path to a more fully experienced year.

One of my best friends became a father today.

And my guess is that it was filled with some of the most present, wholesome, transcendental moments of his entire life.

…Imagine if we could harness this same kind of awe, attention, and energy into more of the moments of our days.

…Because the crazy thing is: we can.

In these moments, when I have a ton going when… when I feel like I want nothing more than a long break… when I fantasize about no obligations, no pressure situations, no producing results… when I feel like all I want to do is have wide open days, and weeks, and months to just read books, write words, and do whatever I feel like doing…

…I think about all of the people who are in the sunset phase of life who want nothing more than to revisit the busy days… who fantasize about the times when they had tons of obligations, were living some of their life’s limelight moments, and were producing not just results, but memories that make up the core of their life’s legacy…

And it’s in these thoughts that I try to bring myself back to the present moment. There will be a day when I wish I could come back to the very moments I’m thinking about being out of. And it’s here that I get to make the impression that my future self gets to think back on. And so no, today I won’t run from what’s in front of me… I’m going to embrace it. Fully and wholeheartedly. Not just for future me, but more importantly, for current me.

I hope you will, too.