WHERE ARE YOU?
The one good answer is right here, right now.
At SEA-TAC while working on an intensely worded email, I lost track of time. Turns out I was not “right here, right now.”
The right place was at the boarding gate. The right time was ten minutes earlier.
Fortunately for me, my wife Susie was right here right now. At her discomfort and inconvenience, she had to race across the concourses, rush into the Alaska boardroom and fish me out at break-neck speed.
At my age, break-neck speed is slightly faster than the turtles I watched race at a convention I spoke at in Mississippi years ago. They enticed the turtles with beer. I think I got across the concourse faster than those turtles did in Biloxi in 1978.
For you, human rights activists relax, I was the guest speaker. It was my first $2000 speech. It was an hour talk. The guy before me went 50 minutes over.
They cut my time to 10 minutes. The drunken turtle race had “right here, right now” priority. I was simply a spectator at the turtle race. I placed no bets. (Smile)
Living in the present is no small task. Being fully present is a serious mind set.
I fail too often to be “right here, right now.”
Some of my former college basketball players had the attention span of a gnat. When I coached them to get B’s not D’s, I took them to the library. A large alarm clock was placed in front of them.
First, we started with “right here, right now” for two minutes. The goal was 10 minutes with undivided attention, then a five minute break.
The first session for one of my athletes was to focus for 60 seconds. It was painful for him. Within a few months, he could do 10 minute intervals with five minute breaks for one hour of focused study.
Do this for two hours and you get B’s. Do it for 4 hours and get A’s.
Do it for 8 hours, you get a Masters with Honors.
Do this method until you know it, you earn a Doctorate.
Seems to me, too often, I return to the attention span of a gnat. Recently, I spoke to business people. One piece of advice I was given was to remember the attention span of the attendees was at an elementary grade level.
“Right here, right now” living begins with a “want to” attitude. Ironically, yesterday, I committed myself to be on time each time Susie made a request.
Talk about “right here, right now” being challenging. So far I am one for two today. My “want to” factor is a 10. My execution factor thus far today is a five. I resolve to get my score to an 8, and tomorrow a 9.
