Today I want to talk about how we sometimes invite the ‘interruptions’ to our present moment that cause us stress and bring in anxiety.
Many of us feel that we live in public more than ever. Thanks to the internet, more and more people are sharing every detail of their lives. Every opinion, yoga pose and a kale smoothie… 🙂 It is understandable we feel the urge to pop in our share on these platforms. Its important to realise that broadcasting everything that we think and do can take us out of the present.
Through the mindfulness we learn the value of the living in the present. By training ourselves to come back over and over, we break the habit of distractions. We are more able to relish the present and live richer fuller lives.
So what happens when we get pulled in the special moment to snap the photo for the social media? As we pause to document and broadcast something, in that instant we are pulling ourselves out of the present. We are concerned with what filter and hashtag to use rather than more deeply enjoying the concert, the conversation or creme brulee.
Of course, sharing on the social media is nothing inherently bad. I use social media all the time, but it’s important to keep mindful, that sometimes the impulse to snap the photo and can pull us out of the present moment that we don’t have an opportunity to enjoy to the fullest.
Over the past year, I’ve been monitoring my instinct to pull out my camera and more frequently I’ve begun catching myself in stopping and preserve the meaning of the moment, keeping it all to myself.
So as an experiment, next time you see the gorgeous sunset, try to enjoy it all alone, give it all to yourself and see what happens when you avoid the urge to share it with the world. In fact, don’t even mention it to anyone.
“Wherever you are, be there. If you can be fully present now, you will know what it means to live.” – Steve Goodie
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