Driving is full of micro decisions. If you don’t have an automatic car, it demands all your senses to co-ordinate in tandem. Spice this up with traffic signals, careless pedestrians, and cars that are just inches away.
The micro decisions are stress inducing, even if you take the same route everyday.
One day, I was back at home after driving for 40 minutes in a dense traffic.
Sipping tea, I was sitting across my wife who was asking about my day.
I like to explain my day in detail. Once I was done, I asked her, how was yours?
As she started narrating her day, my mind started drifting.
I was no longer in the present. I was thinking about my own day and random thoughts.
My wife noticed this, are you even listening?
Little irritated, she said “you teach listening to others, why don’t you even practice it?”
I said, I am not able to.
And then we discussed something else.
The present was lost, forever.
I realised that being in the present demands efforts and energy.
You are at peace when “being in the present” comes naturally to you.
You are not so peaceful when you struggle to be in the “now”, struggle to read a book or enjoy a movie with your loved ones.
How do you solve this?
I believe sometimes the awareness that you are not in the present is enough, your body will do the rest.
You don’t have to solve that, you just need to be aware. 🙂
You will realise the value of being in the present when you struggle to be in the present.
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