Mindfulness

“Mindfulness means 

paying attention in a particular way;

On purpose,

in the present moment, 

and nonjudgmentally.”

~Jon Kabat-Zinn

I've been really trying hard to put this way of thinking into practice lately.  To me mindfulness means taking a step back from life, observing what is going on around me and feeling grateful to be having that particular experience.  It's like when you get married and everyone tells you at the wedding to stop and take it in, really appreciate it, because it all goes by so fast. 

Now that I've figured this out, relate it to it that way, it makes it easier to put living in the present into perspective and practice.  Life is too short to be looking behind or looking forward all the time.  Life is all about one present moment after another.  We have to stop and appreciate those moments as they come.

"Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” – James Baraz" 

"Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone." — Louis L'Amour