Twitter Wisdom

I came across this tweet recently and haven't been able to stop thinking of the wisdom contained in this one simple sentence, so I want to share it with you. 

Always run the mile you are in. Do not look forward in anticipation of the miles that lay ahead. Do not look back at the miles you have already run. Be present, aware, and appreciative of the mile you are running.  You can't enjoy the run if you never experience it. 

 

The same is true in life.  Too often we spend our lives so focused on the future or enveloped by the past that we miss the actual living part.

 

I don't believe this was actually said by the Dalai Lama, but that is completely unimportant.

I will admit being present is easier said than done.  We cannot successfully go through life with no plan for the future and we certainly must to look back at our past experiences in order to learn from our mistakes and heal our wounds.  But, we can't live there.  We can't live in the past or the future.  Life exists only in the exact moment we are living it. 

 

When I am racing, of course, I set out a plan for the entire run.  I plan how I will start, when I will accelerate, and how I will to close the run.  The plan helps me feel secure and confident.  Having the plan allows me to relax in the moment and experience each mile. But, once the plan is made and the starting gun sounds, I run only the mile I am in and I enjoy (or don't enjoy, as the case often is) each step as it comes.  Being present during the long run allows me fully appreciate the experience.  I cannot think about the miles ahead or the miles behind without losing sight of the race I am in. 

 

Life is meant to be experienced.  Life is meant to be felt and savored and lived.  When we aren't present we are wasting our lives anticipating a moment that has never been promised and squandering the moment that has already been given to us.  Each breath we take is an opportunity for an experience.  We are not given an infinite number of breaths in this life and the key to living, really living, is to take it all in, feel it, breath in it, and just BE in it.  Each breath is a gift and we must not waste that gift worrying about something that may never happen or tethered to something that already did. 

 

We must live in each moment and run only the mile we are in.