This Magic Moment

 You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment...

-Henry David Thoreau

Why is it that as we get older we start to dread birthdays?  Certain milestone birthdays are especially intimidating....40, 50, 60.  I put some of the blame on greeting card companies and their ilk.  The "Over the Hill" birthday cards, fun grim reaper party balloons, and these

It doesn't help when I stop to consider that there are so many people who, at my age accomplished far more than myself. 

While I still don't own anything purple and I'm not yelling at kids to get off my lawn (yet), there are days when I definitely feel my age.  I do find consolation in the fact that I'm not as old as Barbie and the Edsel.

There are times I relish the idea that I'm getting to the point that I'm old enough to say exactly what's on my mind and not care (much) what anyone else thinks.  The last thing I want to do is become a cliche, though, and I feel I'm dangerously close to that precipice.  This book is now on my wish list and I keep this website close for what our culture likes to call "senior moments".  And it's nice to know that the NYTimes has my back.

There are blogs out there that take ownership of the subject of aging:  How Not to Act Old and Crabby Old Fart.  And Margaret and Helen are my new heroines.

I think we dread birthdays as we age because of past regrets and anxiety about the future.  One way to change this is to start living in the now.  Be mindful of the moment you're in, and stop focusing on the thoughts, negative or otherwise, that come and go.  Easier said than done.

There is a term that Buddhists use to describe the constant hum that goes on in your head.  It is, and I'm not making this up, "monkey mind".  I can't think of a better way to describe what is going on in my brain at any given moment.

Psychology Today had a great article a couple of years ago called "The Art of Now:  Six Steps to Living in the Moment" which is sort of a beginner's guide to mindfulness.

The six steps are, in a nutshell

• Unselfconsciousness- getting out of your own head and being part of what's going on around you
  
• Savoring- appreciating the moment...stop flitting around between past and future
  
• Breathe- something you can do anywhere, anytime to bring you back to being present in the moment
  
• Flow- focusing your attention on a task so as to not even notice the passage of time
  
• Acceptance- a non-judgmental way of looking at emotions
  
• Engagement- not assuming you know everything about the moment you're presently in 

So, this is my resolution for my new year...to be more mindful about the present, and to try and tame my monkey mind.

Now, where did I put my...um, what do you call them?  Oh, yeah, car keys.

(thanks again, John and Ann!)