A Time For Everything

The more you meditate the more meditative your attitude towards life will be. During the last few days I have been meditating more than usual. And I've kept catching myself doing things only semi-alert (what we call the normal state of consciousness, the non-awakened state) to them - the usual.
But, because I have been meditating more, I have been able to retain some measure of concentration after that moment of awareness. For a few seconds my mind stops chattering and begins paying attention to the little things that fill our lives.

Just a few minutes ago I was taking a shower. One of those showers that you thank the universe for the experience. Today has been a very warm day here in London and I cycled, quite relaxedly though, for about half an hour, from work. I was sweaty and warm and just wanted to get in the tub and feel the water falling all over me.
And when I did I suddenly realised the soft but deep pleasure I was having. The body relaxing from the exercise, the mind relaxed for me being home, and the warm feeling of becoming cleaner, lighter, freer. I observed the mental chatter and it disappeared.

And I immersed on the physical sensations invading me at each moment. A huge beautiful symphony that I barely could keep track of. I didn't try to. I just allowed my frail consciousness to flow, just like water, through the plethora of experiences coming to me.
And, after a few seconds of mental silence a thought came to me. An insight. The realisation that, as a child this type of awareness was much more common than it tends to be these days. At least, I believe this is the case for most of us. As children, because we have less mental constructs in our heads, our minds sometimes, spontaneously, shut up and we're simply there, peacefully observing. Being.

In a flash I realised that we lose this with time, as we become increasingly obsessed with time itself. With meaning. With knowing. With this experience or the next or the previous or some other, somewhere in the past, perhaps coming towards us from the future. With fantasy.
In one way or another children seem to naturally retain this openness of perception, before objectives and all manner of wantings come into place.

I recalled the words of a friend of mine that keeps reminding people around him that "There's a time for everything".
I agree with this. I think it's important to become aware of the age in life we are traversing so that we can fulfil in harmony with our capabilities.
And then be able to let it go and move on to the next.

I think he, like myself, has observed many times people that are still stuck to a particular age that they feel they have not lived completely. This may happen through longing for those times long gone. Or through hatred towards those times (or even those living that age themselves).
Living in a way that we are flowing with the time present in us is easy but also difficult. For it's rare to find reliable guides to help us find footing where we stand.
Most of the times, we end up having to figure it all out by ourselves. This is not only tiring and incredibly complex but also difficult to achieve.
To my mind this should be the main role of those with greater experience than ourselves. Usually this means people older than us, people that have crossed the times we are traversing already, that can see where we stand from the vantage point of their distance.
Of course, these days particularly, things aren't that easy. Things keep changing around us and, young or old, we all struggle in one way or another to keep up with the changes we see around us.
This much is clear...
We cannot stop the world. Perhaps nor should we want to.
But the one thing we know we can incredibly influence is ourselves.
Therefore it is important to find those that can guide us through the unfolding of our-selves.
Which kind of brings me back to the beginning of this. For these people (we can call them spiritually minded - even if they don't believe in spirituality themselves, simply by being interested in their actions, in their beings and their relation with things around them, they are already being spiritual and spiritual beings - that is, to me at least, the core of spirituality, uncovering the true extension of self), these spiritual people, will have lessons learned, stories to tell, ideas to teach, advisable practices and, above all, the experience of their years and the examples of their lives to share.

(and I think this is the role we all should represent to one another too... everybody has something to learn and something to teach - sometimes even they are the same thing, only from perhaps different perspectives)

But, in order for us to benefit from this wealth of knowledge, we must learn how to be present. I usually say, learn how to listen. And listening, to me, is a full being thing. When you listen you listen with the wholeness of you - not just the ears.
Using just the ears is like saying that cycling is pedalling.
And I think that we all know what will happen if we only pedal and don't pay attention to traffic, use the handle bars or even sit properly...

For this we need to be present.
So, and in conclusion, for us to truly be present in this time and age of ours we need to retain awareness of what's happening. We need to be insightful into the now. We need to be present.
Then, perhaps not only we'll fulfil each time, one moment at a time, but perhaps we will feel that each time, each moment, is already full. That each moment is already everything.