More on mindfulness

Here's an excerpt from A Mindful Way by Jeanine Seward Magee:

Many of us spend all our time living in our past or fantasizing about our future, neither of which actually exist. We miss out on the one true experience of our lives, the gift of the present moment. It is the only thing that any of us can really possess in our lifetime. With each moment, with each breath, we have life. If we are breathing, we know we are alive! And when we are aware we are alive, we can find we have so much to celebrate. Sometimes we literally hold our breath. Other times, although we are breathing, we are doing so without any real awareness. If we do not breathe consciously, we are not aware that we are alive.

So often we forget the gifts of our senses. Many of us have been blessed with sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing, and each one of them gives us so much to enjoy. The gift of sight can be a daily celebration. Even if you are in a small office or a crowded city, you can look at your hand, at a flower, or at the sky. There is beauty all around us, just waiting for us to stop, take a few breaths, and appreciate it.

Staying in the "now" is really the key to happiness. Paying attention to the breath and to what is available to us through our senses is a way to that mindfulness. And the more reminders we can get, the better.