As we grow and learn, we fall into habits of mind and body, of attention and inattention,
of being open and then closing ourselves off. The result is not being present for our own
lives. Sometimes we move so fast we simply forget and have no idea what is happening
around us and operate solely on “autopilot”. Subconsciously we train ourselves to
ignore the more mundane tasks so that we can focus more attention to what we want
to accomplish or whatever it is that distracts us from the present moment.
There is nothing particularly wrong with
living this way and sometimes it is a
perfectly reasonable thing to do. After all,
there’s only so much that we can do in a
given day. However the more we “tune
out” to life, the more we risk missing out
on small miracles, the beauty around us,
appreciating our lives and feeling grateful.
Inattention can also cause us to overlook
important information and messages.
What happens when we disconnect is that
we lose ourselves, sometimes relationships
suffer and ultimately it can take its toll on
our health. We become prisoners of deeprooted routines.
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“being fully aware
of what we‘re
experiencing and
what surrounds us
at a given point in
time can leave
us constantly
fulfilled.”
l i v i n g a n a u t h e n t i c l i f e CC B Y - NC - N D 4 . 0