Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Thought for the Day - Am I fully here?

It was while walking in the park (a place where I get most of these thoughts) that I caught myself asking this question - how much of me is in the walk? I was not fully there obviously, as my thoughts kept flitting here and there, and only with great difficulty was I able to get my focus on the act I was in. (I was at best 20% in the walk and had no awareness of my breath, my body until I drew my focus on it.)

The question then is this - if we engage superficially in every act, we may not get the greatest results - because our focus and concentration and involvement is just not there wholly. Only when we learn to be fully in the act can we expect ourselves to merge with the act, to flow with it. That is the state that makes the act most interesting and productive. That is also the state that makes the act most natural and unique.We can ask this question of ourselves in whatever we are doing - writing, painting, accounting, playing.

To get the best out of whichever job you are handling, or more specifically to find that 'you' in that job, you must ask yourself this question as you do it. How much of me is right now in this job? And if it is not fully there, try and practice getting your focus on it fully. If we merge with the act, immerse ourselves fully, then we are creating what we were meant to.