Learning can occur anywhere, anytime.

This morning, as I was putting away the coffee cups from yesterday afternoon’s coffee vacation, I knocked one into the shelf. No damage to the cup or my hand – but an “Ah-ha!”. I immediately got that I was not exercising ‘consciousness’. Really – that’s the word that came into my head. If I’d been paying better attention, I’d have lifted my arm sufficiently to clear the shelf.

It’s food for thought. Putting the dishes away is a relatively minor task in the grand scheme of things. But, it made me aware of how many things, large and small, I often am not as fully conscious about as I could be.

When I’m on KP (kitchen patrol) duty preparing potatoes, am I focused enough so that I slice them into consistent cubes while not cutting myself? When I pay the water bill, am I mindful of all the blessings that come from having water flow directly into our house and as much as we want? What about gratitude for the channel God used to get the money into our checking account to be able to pay the bill? How present am I when I’m in conversation? Reading? The list goes on and on…

Gratefully, I am becoming more focused on the Now and attending to it. And, the more I do so, the richer my relationships and my life are. No doubt the better a human being I am to my fellows and Spirit.

Whether involving my inner life or my outer one, every situation is an opportunity to practice the present, the Presence, to be fully conscious. Every encounter is a holy one, and I want to be involved to the fullest.