There's More To Be Present To

Last week I was in a new town and wanted to enjoy my lunch by the bay. I made a conscious effort to avoid all temptations to check social media, respond to text messages, or otherwise get caught up on my phone so that I could be more present. Sitting on a bench overlooking the bay and taking in the sights, I was proud of myself for allowing myself to be.

It must have looked like my intention was to enjoy the scenery  because a woman walking her dog chose to make a quick comment to me in passing: “Don’t you love that smell?” she said. I responded “Ya, the sandwich smells great doesn’t it?” And to that she responded, “No, the smell of the bay!”

In a quick moment this woman completely shifted my perspective. Here I was, trying to be as present as possible taking in everything that my senses could, and I hadn’t even noticed the one thing that stood out the most to someone else. It reminded me of how narrow our perspective is, even when we’re trying to take on the widest view possible.

Relating this back to our personal development, the same goes for our performance and efforts to be the best version of ourselves. We go about our days operating with a limited level of awareness. On one hand it can be defeating and discouraging as we do our best but still fail to get the results we want. But on the other hand, it’s extremely liberating because any time you fall short you can attribute it to lacking awareness.

This isn’t meant to be a cop out that deflects responsibility… It’s the practical truth. Our choices are limited by the awareness and information we have when we make the choice. If anything this actually generates ownership because then it’s on us to seek out the awareness and information we need to bridge the gap.

That’s why one of the great pursuits of humanity is to elevate our consciousness. Albert Einstein is quoted saying “You can’t solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it.” We cultivate consciousness by seeking perspective from others, practicing self-awareness, challenging our own thoughts and beliefs, disconnecting from our ego, and creating more space to observe the events of life before assigning a defaulted meaning to them. 

What you perceive and experience today is the smallest fraction of what’s out there. And it’s on us to chip away at seeing into the things we don’t, as best as we can. It’s like Maya Angelou says: “Do the best you can until you know better. The when you know better, do better.”