That Dog Eat Dog World Should Just Take a Breath
It's true that life is short and precious so we should try to suck the very marrow out of life experiences, but in a paradoxical way, often the pathway to doing this best does not include a hurried or stressful rush from one experience to the next. Often the best way of truly experiencing life is to focus on the goodness that is always around us right now. Sometimes it can be healthy to care a little less about where we are heading and just enjoy the ride.
I was driving down a lonely stretch of highway when I SUV pulled up beside me at a traffic light. There wasn’t anything remarkable about the SUV as far as I could tell from the glance I gave it but then I took another quick look at what was in the back seat. A dog had its nose sticking out the window with its eyes closed.
The dog looked like the absolutely picture of present and complete joy and contentment. And as I thought about it as we parted ways further down the road, why wouldn’t that dog near heaven in that situation. It had cool wind brushing through its fur, warm sun beaming down on its face, it was presumably riding along with a family that loved and cared for it, and it was taking in new sights and sounds and smells that it could explore and expend its horizons.
Wouldn’t it be nice if more of our time was spent in a similar fashion to how that dog experienced that ride? I’d admit that a lot of my time I spend worrying about what’s happening next or stressing about problems that are arising in the present or wishing for different outcomes in any number of arenas. What would it take for us to just take a nice moment completely and single-mindedly?
As I see it, we would have to:
Recognize that most things about us in any given moment is pretty alright if we are breathing, not in serious pain, or in any life-threatening situations. If that all is true then most things are rather good.
Give up anything that isn’t really occurring in that very moment so we can focus on the pleasures of just the present moment.
Close our eyes and let the sensations wash over us. Maybe we don’t need to close our eyes like my dog friend did, but sometimes it helps to shut out the distractions so we can focus more on other senses than our busy eyes.
Care a bit less about where we’re going and don’t forget to focus on where we are right now.
I remember I was at a breath-taking viewpoint at Bryce Canyon Nation Park in Southern Utah last year. The trail leads you right to the edge and you get a startlingly beautiful view of the hoodoos—special rock formation pillars that at this viewpoint were blazing orange. The beauty absolutely stopped me in my tracks and time felt a bit funny in that moment: in some ways it felt like time stood still as I witnessed the geological timeline of an evolving landscape that had been touched by slight shifts caused by ice and wind and trickles of water over millions of years.
I would never say that there is a right or wrong way to experience national treasures like amazing national park vistas, and I’m certain that the couple who joined me on the viewing platform a few moments after me got some good things out of their experience too. However, they certainly didn’t stay long enough to take much in I’m afraid. They posed for a selfie or two while talking about the drive from St. George, Utah and after those couple of snapshots they dashed back to their cars.
It's true that life is short and precious so we should try to suck the very marrow out of life experiences, but in a paradoxical way, often the pathway to doing this best does not include a hurried or stressful rush from one experience to the next. Often the best way of truly experiencing life is to focus on the goodness that is always around us right now. Just like that dog in the car didn’t particularly care where they were heading. It just enjoyed the ride.