From Clutter to Clarity

While I was watching this rather cute woofter enjoying basking in the winter sun I got to thinking a little. What is my equivalent of 'a dog's life.' What is the ultimate simple pleasure and enjoyment? Making the first fresh steps in snow (not that I get to do that very often anymore!!)  The smell of coffee first thing in the morning? Reading the paper in the middle of the day with a cup of tea? Fresh brewed tea using leaves and a proper teapot? Hearing the rain on the roof? Walking in the early morning while the sun is coming up? Anyway, what is your simple pleasure. Let me know. I would like to know what simple things we can do every day and acknowledge them as a precious moment. Maybe with enough of them we can fill a whole week with pleasure.

For most of us non Yogi like individuals 'being in the moment' is very tricky. We can maybe stop doing physical stuff, but the physical bit is much much easier than switching the brain off. So how do we stop those lists being drawn up constantly and the constant 'Oh I must remember to,' or 'Wouldn't it be great to.' It takes focus and practice, lots of practice, but the good news is that the focus part is the same sort of focus we use when we have a deadline and manage to block everything out apart from the thing we are doing! So take that focus and focus on something around you now  and really look at it, what do you notice? (If you are really stuck look at a tree! How many different colours are in the foliage, how many different shades of green?, how do the branches connect?) Focus entirely on the thing happening around you and see how long you can keep that up before something pops into your head, acknowledge the thing and then start the proc...