Wednesday Wisdom – Finding Magic in The Moment

One of my business newsletters written and circulated in mid-2018 made reference to the reality of needing to consciously and actively disengage from our addiction to the busy-ness of business and life, in order to reconnect with a sense of calm. It is through this stepping back that we further allow time to pause, reflect and absorb the value of what surrounds us at any given time.

In other words, simply not being at work or being on holiday, are insufficient methods of taking time out if the addict that resides in us is not properly managed.

Whilst technology has made the world a smaller place, improved communication in a variety of different ways and enabled us to keep abreast of family, business and world events, it has also created the tendency to swallow up the natural state of ‘being present’.

Pause for a second and consider when you last lived in the moment without checking or using your smart phone, iPad, laptop etc., and didn’t have these items on standby or in such close proximity that they could be used in a mere stretch or stroke of the hand. A time when you engaged with the people and or environment just as it was, without any sense of pressure or temptation to dilute it, through the use of a technological item.

This exercise may require considerable effort as our lives have become so bombarded with the use of instant information sharing and receipt, immediate business and financial management and constant ‘socialization’ via digital means, that ‘always on’ has become part of what defines us.

Having prided myself on being able to ‘switch off’ when it suits, I have to admit that disconnecting from my apparent addiction to the use of, and dependency on, technology this past week has been extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps more so as it was unexpectedly forced upon me due to the inadequacies and dismal service of MTN, in spite of making every effort to ensure that traveling half the way around the world did not interrupt the digital and online management of my business.

The point is that, it has taken conscious effort, and positive self talk, in the form of constant reminders that the excellent business systems, people in place at home, and the reality that I can be reached in a crisis, are enough.

It has been a form of work to trust that this short time-out from day-to-day connectivity in the way I normally use it, is okay.

This is not easy for the entrepreneurial spirit, whose life and work generally roll into a union that seldom allows for more than a clearly demarcated, carefully managed, period of switching off.  Yet once the discomfort subsides, each day opens up with a greater sense of time being available to partake in a host of activities that have no limitation with regard to when, or for how long, they may be enjoyed.  An entirely new experience.

Living virtually entirely in the moment has become foreign to us as a society, even for those of us who may succumb to the delusion that we are not an addict! Yet doing so allows for precious conversations, fresh perspectives, and much needed down time from which only truly renewed energy can evolve.

Magic is at the heart of living in The Moment.

ELISE