I’ve been thinking about mindfulness lately. According to Psychology Today, “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.”

Being here now, observing life around us, and living in this very moment seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? It should be, and yet, it’s easy to become preoccupied with what happened yesterday or long ago, or with what might happen tomorrow if things don’t go well. It’s easy to let our thoughts run on, unchecked, leaving us exhausted and in a surreal suspension of time.

Recently I had an experience where a huge wave of unsettled emotion seemed to overtake me. That’s when I decided to put my foot down and figure it out. I needed to understand what it was that made me feel so unsettled. So with a little help from my friends and a lot of help from my own reservoir of self-help, I decided to tackle the feeling.

Instead of fighting it, I watched and observed my thoughts. I took deep breaths and meditated. Incredibly, without trying very hard at all, I was able to figure out the several things that were bothering me and even express them. I felt liberated. I was free to enjoy what was right in front of me. Wow! What a feeling to realize how much there really is to enjoy.