How would you feel if every person you encountered daily made at least three seconds of eye contact with you? Many of us would probably be a little thrown off by the awkward staring, but if you're anything like me, not even those few seconds would suffice for a meaningful greeting!
Now, I'm not here to persuade you to make more eye contact with the people around you, but I am encouraging you to think about how small actions like that affect you. Doesn't it make you feel a lot more connected to a conversation when the person you're talking to is looking at you and not at the person across the room or the floor? If you're still confused at what exactly I'm getting at...
It's all about BEING PRESENT—in the room, in the conversation, in the moment!
Small actions like eye contact, reassuring body language, active listening, positive feedback—these all encourage us to enjoy what the NOW brings and less on what the past or the future holds.
I realize this may seem like a pretty simple thing to do; I think it is too, but how come so many of us still feel easily isolated or left out even when we're around friends or people we love? Could it be that all of us need a little less screen time and a little more people time?
Why NOT?
I'm pretty sure no one likes when we're really excited about something and want to share it with a friend but they just can't put their phone down! Or how about when you really want to be "boo'd up with bae" and they would rather scroll down their social media feed than talk to you! It's flat-out frustrating for all of us. If we all worked a little harder on showing up at the moment, a lot more of the Now can be saved and savored for later!
Being present is about focusing your energy or attention the person or task at hand and being in the moment with it! Accept all that comes with the moment for what it is!
Some of you may think "I am 'present,' but now what?"
Enjoy! You can never lose anything from focusing on being in the moment! Particularly in your relationships, being more present can have the greatest benefit for you and your partner's happiness! No one wants a friend, lover, family member or co-worker whose focus always seems to be elsewhere and never HERE! Be HERE in the NOW!
A close friend of mine often says, "the future is only an idea," and any future you can think up is only one of many, many, MANY possible futures. We all know better than to let the past repeat itself, so what's better than focusing on everything that you are and can be right now in this moment?
Remember that being present can be as simple as three seconds of eye contact or simply listening to someone when they're talking to you—show them with your body language and demeanor that you are there with them at that moment! Even when you are sharing sometime alone to yourself, taking a few minutes to check in with how you're feeling or reflecting on the day can be your time to be present with the self! You can never be too focused on the Now; even too much is never enough!
“Let any and everything that you let touch your life be an instrument of your liberation," Dr. John Henrik Clarke.
