Remember When?

Remember when you would simply do things without thinking about them? When you would just sit with someone and enjoy their company without thinking about anything else?  Do you ever think that you've lost the joy that used to come from that simple pleasure and can't explain why?  Well, I highly suggest that we all find it again, and a little more often.  I mean certainly I'm not advocating that you throw all distraction away and move to a remote island, but I am advocating for a greater presence of consciousness in our everyday lives and a decreased emphasis on worrying about tomorrow.

Certainly the applicability of this lesson for lawyers, and really for anyone in any profession, is clear.  It's kind of your job to be ready for the unexpected or the unknown- that which could be lurking around the corner, waiting to wreak havoc on both you and your client's lives.  But the real question is, what good does it really do to worry about the unknown?  Honestly?  How much good does it add to your life to think about what could happen next month, instead of fully focusing on the only thing you know, namely, what is happening right  now.

This idea escapes us generally.  We, as Americans, are a forward thinking culture with a forward thinking mindset:  What's happening next week, next year, next month is constantly on our minds, while what's happening with your friend in front of you, or the task at hand, tends to, whether consciously or not, take the proverbial back seat.  Additionally, the advent of technology does nothing to foster a sense of "presence" in this hectic, hurried world.  Now, not only can you be concerned about what's happening tomorrow or who you may have to talk to or email, you can take care of it now- right now.  Wouldn't that be so much better than doing whatever else it is you're doing right now?  And so the cycle begins and never stops:  The future is constantly the focus of now.

So who often pays the price for this lack of presence?  The answer, the sad answer, is a multitude of parties:  family, friends, loved ones, clients and really anyone who is deserving of your attention at any particular moment.

A recent article published by the Guardian noted that two of the greatest regrets experienced by the dying were regret about having worked so hard and missing key moments in their loved one's lives and not permitting themselves to be happier by getting caught up in old, unhappy habits and continuing them nonetheless. See  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying?fb=native.

Is that a wake up call?  I say yes.  Both of these issues really have a lot to do with presence.  It goes back to the idea of being fully present in the time that you have with someone, anyone. When your time with your loved ones is limited, its important to make them feel like they are the priority and you ensure that by making them feel like they are the priority and not your portable mobile device or whatever may be happening next year, week, or month.  I always loved a lyric I heard in this Bahz Luhrman song. You remember it.  The "Sunscreen Song"  circa 2001-2002?  Anyone?  Ok well, most important, the line is :  Worrying is about as useful as chewing a piece of bubble gum to solve an algebra equation.  Not the most zen statement in the world, but it still delivers a clear point.

Yoga principles constantly reinforce the idea of presence, of being fully present in where you are at that particular moment because of the amount of potential and glory there is in "right now."  Tomorrow or next year may never come, but if you take the time to be with whoever you're with now, your client, your mother, your son, or your friend, it makes a world of difference, for both you and them.  When you do that, no matter what happens tomorrow or next year, you can happily know that you were completely present with someone, not worrying about the future, but enjoying the now, because really, in this crazy life, the "now" is all we really have.

Live love life everyone!

Namaste and Have a Great Week