Living Like There's No Tomorrow

I had a pleasant lunch this week, with a woman I did not know, to talk over some new ideas.  I most likely won't be a part of this future endeavor - but I was happy to hear about it and make some suggestions.  But, to me, the fun part was talking and listening with a new person in my life.  We had each other's undivided attention.  I hope her project flies, but I enjoyed this experience all on its own.

Because I'm, more and more, into living in the moment.

That's one of the reasons I'm so enjoying the book I'm currently reading, "Happiness is a Choice You Make." Social scientists aren't sure why older people aren't more unhappy but that could be because these researchers study the problems not the richness of getting older.  Happiness to us oldies is usually what's happening now.  In other words:  Happiness is a state of living in the present.

When I was doing consulting work I used to emphasis this concept but younger people are always worrying about possessions and work and relationships they might have in the future.  The simple act of living in the moment by just listening carefully to what another person is saying is lost on most of us when we're younger.

Now I try not to spend much energy on people or things I don't care about.  For instance, mingling at cocktail parties, attending long, boring meetings and listening to people complain about silly things or things they can do nothing about are not things I choose to do very often these days.

I'm less interested in superficial and negative contacts and am happier with the people closer to me who want to enjoy life now even while they're working to make it better.   And I enjoy my own inner world  It's a fun place most of the time.


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