Living in the moment

I was enjoying a quiet conversation over a salad with a friend yesterday. We were on our way to the Dallas Summer Musical production of Wonderful Town, about which neither of us knew a thing except I had season tickets and a husband on the golf course for the Men's Golf Association championship. (He came in second.) We were doing a light lunch, the play, and then a heavier supper. The weather was great, the traffic had been light, and all in all, it was looking to be a wonderful afternoon for Wonderful Town. (It was.)

Our conversation rode the waves of mutual acquaintances and current local events, bordered on gossip (as if!), and then centered on compassionate concern (I promise), as we started talking about another woman. My friend commented that she never settled down, she was always ready to go to the next place, she never "lived in the moment."

Well, that was a conversation stopper. How many times was I guilty of doing just that? I'd be somewhere (let's say church or bridge club or a board meeting) and I would not be really focusing on where I was or what I was doing (singing or playing a hand well or listening to other's opinions and requests). Instead, my mind and spirit were off on the next thing. And what would I be doing there but thinking of the next one?

Talk about wishing your life away! This is just what our mothers warned us about when we were 12 and wanting to be 16 and 16 and wanting out of high school and 18 and wanting to be 21. You can see how this is going. We wish our lives and time away.

Friend and I pledged to live in the moment yesterday afternoon, to enjoy the experience of the musical and each other's company. I thanked her for the insight. Then had to admit later that during one of the dance numbers, I'd been running down the list of restaurants for supper.

I have a ways to go to be in the moment. But at least I've started.