It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
This, I believe, and try to live accordingly. Sometimes I even succeed:
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You control your interruptions. The way you react to a ringing phone -or incoming text message- , for instance, reflects your priorities. Do you continue your dinner with your family? Do you drop everything and rush to pick it up? Who are you with, right now?
Allowing someone else to decide that you will be redirecting your attention to them rather than complete the activity you had chosen for that timeframe is letting yourself drift around, with no anchor and no commitment to your own present.
Be present for your present, and it will fulfill your every minute. Communicate to the ones you’re with that you are here to be with them truly, for this span of time. That other conversation can wait for a time when you can give *it* your undivided attention.
Don’t let yet another “LOL” get in the way of shared, face-to-face laughter with your loved ones in the here and now. This day is precious.
