3124: What Presence Feels Like by Julie Morgenstern on Being Fully Engaged in the Moment

[00:00:00] Why take one vacation with the family when you could take all of them? With Royal Caribbean,

[00:00:05] you don't just go to the beach. You visit a private island and race down the tallest

[00:00:09] water slide in North America. You don't just go for a road trip, you ATV and zip line through

[00:00:15] the jungle. You don't just go somewhere new. You repel down waterfalls and discover ancient

[00:00:20] temples because this isn't just any vacation. This is all the vacations. Come seek the Royal

[00:00:27] Caribbean, Ships Registry Bahamas. This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3124. What presence

[00:00:35] feels like by Julie Morgan's turn of Julie Morgan's turn.com, and a moderator Justin

[00:00:41] Malik reading you blogs every single day of the year including holidays. Now let's get

[00:00:45] right to it as we optimize your life. What presence feels like by Julie Morgan's

[00:00:55] turn of Julie Morgan's turn.com. A friend once said that what she loves about travel is

[00:01:02] that every time you go on a trip, you are changed forever. She is so right. We see and

[00:01:08] experience things when we go to places we've never been that simply cannot happen by armchair

[00:01:13] travel through a Google search. This summer I had an extraordinary opportunity to go to Africa

[00:01:19] and it was one of those trips that changed me in ways I am still synthesizing. We started

[00:01:24] in Malawi where I met three young Malawi and women who have created remarkable organizations

[00:01:29] dedicated to keeping girls in school in order to help them become more self-sufficient.

[00:01:34] We next went to Botswana and Zimbabwe to go on a river safari and see the magnificent

[00:01:39] Victoria Falls. In South Africa, I had the inspiring honor of delivering a time management workshop

[00:01:45] to 240 South African youth who are scholars with the Make a Difference Foundation. This was

[00:01:51] an adventure of a lifetime and I discovered so much along the way. Perhaps the most unexpected

[00:01:57] moment of the trip was during a morning drive we took along the Joby River that winds through

[00:02:01] the northern portion of Botswana. It was so quiet and everything around us was still. We drove

[00:02:08] for quite a while without seeing any wildlife as I looked around all I saw were trees, the

[00:02:14] steel river, the plains, and the rising sun. The scenery was beautiful but I was yearning

[00:02:20] to see what we had ventured all this way to witness wild animals. As the animals were

[00:02:26] waking up we saw a single bird fly by itself to a little spot on the river where it landed

[00:02:31] to peacefully enjoy its morning meal and reflection, the whole world in a single quiet moment.

[00:02:38] If only we took more time to pause and look around we would discover what is really happening

[00:02:43] in the moment. We will never discover everything there is to know and experience but if we stay

[00:02:48] present there is so much to find. Simply put, being in the moment means that you are marveling

[00:02:56] at the newness and presentation before you. You are just reacting not anticipating or worrying

[00:03:02] about anything. Free of distraction, obligation or regret being in the moment means that

[00:03:09] you've escaped at least temporarily the clatter of voices in your head. There's an easy welcome

[00:03:15] desire to take advantage of each minute because there will never be another one just like it.

[00:03:19] Of course, being in the moment is neither easy to attain or sustain but to boost our chances and

[00:03:26] get back to a presence when we slip into autopilot it helps to define what being present feels like.

[00:03:33] Remarkably, the moment feels about the same for everyone. For your five ways you know when

[00:03:40] you're in the moment. Number one, all senses are firing on five cylinders. Your sense of

[00:03:46] smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch are extraordinarily keen. You pick up on things, the smell

[00:03:54] of coffee, the heat of the sun that usually wouldn't get a second thought. There's a specialness to

[00:03:59] each thing you encounter that wasn't there before. Number two, the world is in high resolution.

[00:04:06] Never sit at a tiny table in a crowded restaurant and feel like you when your dinner partner are

[00:04:11] the only people in the room. That's precisely what being in the moment feels like. The sky looks

[00:04:16] a little bluer, the grass a little greener and you notice the details of your everyday environment,

[00:04:22] street signs to a variety of flowers in your neighbor's flower boxes, the color of your cat's eyes.

[00:04:28] Number three, full engagement. Whatever you were doing commands your full attention whether you're

[00:04:34] at work, at home, with your children on a date, more at the gym. Outside thoughts don't creep into

[00:04:41] your conscience as you devote 100% focus to your current activity. Number four, time flies. This fully

[00:04:49] engaged state means that time flies but in the best way possible. There's no anxiety about running out

[00:04:55] of time or time wasted. Curiously absent from your mind is the restlessness that usually has you

[00:05:01] checking the clock. Number five, feel enthusiasm and excitement for whatever you are doing.

[00:05:08] When you're in the moment everything you do is buoyed by a sense of irrepressible enthusiasm.

[00:05:13] From the smallest experience mowing the lawn or going to your daughter's little league game

[00:05:18] to the largest getting married or having a child is exciting. You're able to be enthusiastic

[00:05:24] about every moment. I am still processing the many ways in which my trip to Africa changed me,

[00:05:30] but one goal I have is to carry the lesson of that memorable morning with a bird forward as I walk

[00:05:36] head on into fall. To pay closer attention to the many extraordinary moments that occur every single

[00:05:42] day all around me. To not assume there's nothing exciting to see, but to look up during my commute

[00:05:48] to the office and throughout my workday. To notice in every speech and workshop I deliver when

[00:05:54] someone in the audience connects with a technique that solves the very challenge day came into the

[00:05:58] room with and it breaks through occurs. We are all that bird going out every day in search of what

[00:06:04] we need, and when we find it how nice it is to be still and savor the moment.

[00:06:15] You just listen to the post titled What Presence Feels Like by Julie Morgan's turn of Julie

[00:06:20] Morgan's turn dot com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Being in control of my health

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[00:07:35] not limited to diagnose treat cure or prevent any disease. Why take one vacation with the family

[00:07:42] when you could take all of them with Royal Caribbean? You don't just go to the beach. You visit a

[00:07:47] private island and race down the tallest water slide in North America. You don't just go for a road trip,

[00:07:53] you ATV and zip line through the jungle. You don't just go somewhere new. You repel down waterfalls

[00:07:59] and discover ancient temples because this isn't just any vacation. This is all the vacations.

[00:08:06] Come seek the Royal Caribbean. Chips registry Bahamas.

[00:08:10] They get a Julie. My first saw the title of this article. I was really only thinking about being

[00:08:15] present with other people for some reason. I'm not sure why that came to mind first.

[00:08:20] Maybe it's because I've always found that to be really important in friendships. Being present,

[00:08:25] listening, all that stuff is really similar to what she describes in this post. Those feelings

[00:08:30] of being in the moment can happen in even the most normal or basic things like everyday conversations.

[00:08:37] We can have full engagement with time-flying, feeling enthusiastic with our senses firing in all cylinders.

[00:08:45] Maybe not all of our senses but the ones needed to be in that conversation at least.

[00:08:50] Now great is it when that happens. It's really good times. It's similar to that state of flow

[00:08:55] that we hear about which we can also find in so many different ways. Sports is a common example

[00:09:00] like surfing or skiing. I talked about this recently. Where you're concentrating so hard on

[00:09:05] balance and your environment that all you can do is be present. Our minds can't even go to

[00:09:10] worry or anything else. But the truth is that it happens with many other things too like work,

[00:09:17] play, maybe even in your stop at the grocery store. You never know. So the one thing I want to

[00:09:22] emphasize that she did touch on is that you don't have to travel to another country, more continent

[00:09:28] for them better to experience these feelings. They're available wherever you are all the time.

[00:09:35] We just have to make room for them. So find that flow today. Thank you for being part of the

[00:09:40] journey and sticking around. You listening and the authors letting me narrate their work is what

[00:09:44] keeps this all going. It really means a lot. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow

[00:09:50] where you're after my life. Now wait.