Like Herding Cats

Musing of the day...

As I continue to work my way through this lifetime, I make a serious attempt to be mindful of my surroundings -- of people with whom I interact or meet in passing -- of the sounds, smells and movements of the world around me. The thing is -- it's easy to forget to remember to be mindful.  Today I am thinking about why that is. Here's what I am thinking -- there is sort of an internal dialog that goes on inside my head all day and that narrative sometimes distracts me from being aware...of being mindful.  Does this make sense?  I guess I am thinking about what I need to do, what I want to do, what I have to do.  It's a prioritizing...a multi-level organizing, and let us not forget the time spent in wondering what it is that you were going to do or where the car keys went. You know -- the experience of passing through a doorway and standing in the room wondering what it is that you came to get or to do?  The only comparison I can think of is that this "thinking" sometimes blocks awareness of the outside world much in the way that children playing and asking questions can make things so chaotic that you can't even string enough words together to make a complete sentence.  Sometimes life is so scattered that it is hard to focus on it...to be as mindful, aware, in tune... as you would like to be. Then again -- sometimes it isn't fun to focus and escaping into a world of meandering thoughts is pleasant.  I guess balance is the goal.  Then again again -- maybe even thinking about this escape is a type of "mindful" introspection.  What do you think? I think the whole concept is a bit confusing. Trying to sort it out is like herding cats.