This present moment has such a richness — not only multiple futures branching out from it, but also a depth and texture of its own. Only when our senses and mental processes align with the present can we see clearly — accept mistakes, stop seeking to avoid the life we have. Consider the qualities you’d most like to develop, rather than the wish list about what you’d like to happen. In this way, you prune the branches of possibility down to those that most represent your values.

Try this meditation for one minute today, or longer if you wish:

REALIZE YOU HOLD all the possibilities for the future right here with you. Notice the qualities you would most like to develop.

At times almost all of us envy the animals. They suffer and die, but they do not seem to make a “problem” of it. Their lives seem to have so few complications. They eat when they are hungry and sleep when they are tired. … For the animal, happiness consists in enjoying life in the immediate present — not in the assurance that there is a whole future of joys ahead of him.
—Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity

How did this meditation go for you? Share your experience with your fellow North Shore Bank employees at shorelines@northshorebank.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana.

If you’d like a daily email reminder to practice one minute of mindfulness, email us with the subject “Mindfulness reminder.”