Attention

Pay attention.

Life passes us by,

it flaunters through our eyes,

its luster constant,

relentless.

Yet we deviate,

our focus constantly on progression with no reflection,

reality warped tragically into tidbits reflected on screens.

A make-belief existence we all wish to partake in, to be someone else, to have what another has, to live another more absolute life.

The past cannot be changed, nor the future foretold. All we have is now.

We look yet never observe,

we listen to the other to respond,

not to understand,

noises made with our mouths,

yet what we speak is a hodgepodge of ingrained nonsense,

all jumbled in the brain,

like a stew left out for too long.

It’s as if the lips had a mind of their own, blurting and spewing, the brain left aside for other things, certainly not for thinking.

We have been blessed (or cursed?) with the awareness of our consciousness,

death is an absolute for all of us, we know it’s coming, speeding towards us in a dark tunnel, barreling with no concern, knowing it will take that which it sees fit.

So we sleepwalk through life,

and miss our surroundings.

Guilt, remorse, fear and melancholy holding us back.

Overthinking existence, my personal nemesis of the mind, overruling the beauty before my eyes.

So I try mightily to hug tight,

love hard,

kiss deeply,

to choose my words so they are gentle.

I know harm will come my way,

we will all suffer,

more than once your heart will be crushed,

many nights our heads will hit the pillows and think the world has ended,

yet the next day we begin anew.

New choices, new reflections.

We are unaware of our breath,

our lungs deflated with shallow inhales and exhales,

we miss the slight uptick in our heartbeat when we see the ones we love,

the feeling in our soul when we kiss the person we once thought unattainable,

that tight hug from you mother after long months of absence,

the inside joke with your friends or family after thinking all was lost.

We miss the sparkle in a stranger’s eye when we do something nice,

a simple hello,

a gentle smile,

to let them know,

“I know, life is rough and hectic, but I notice you and wish you well”,

We miss the feeling of pride when your child hands you a precious drawing,

scribbled direct from their curious mind, a drawing that reflects the purity of what we once were.

I stopped to pay attention the other day, while walking with my furry friend, a Red Robin perched itself nicely on a stone ledge by the park.

How beautiful it was,

I dare to say, to notice such a perfect creature, flying about all day, and I never noticed,

I never noticed.

I saw the early morning dew on freshly mowed grass,

the sun just above the horizon, always present, never failing to bring us warmth and life.

Teenagers skating in the park, music blaring,

parents patiently waiting by,

young children running up the hill, climbing the trees, engrossed in the moment, they know,

yet don’t know,

life is about being in the moment.

We are here to give life meaning,

not to discover an inherent purpose hiding in a cave, scribbled on an ancient wall, clearly for all to see.

Pay attention,

because life passes us by.