My One Word 2017

Okay, I finally did it.  I've joined the #OneWord bandwagon.  One word to define the change you want to see in yourself.  My One Word for 2017 is HERE.  This came to me as I was sitting at the table with my in-laws with one hand on my phone, checking e-mails, while trying to listen to them.  It dawned on me that, while my body was in the room, I wasn't HERE.

Over the last year, my wife and son have both pointed out that I seem distant, as though I am focused on something else.  Truth is, I am.  I'm focused on work, students, what I need to accomplish tomorrow, that conversation I had today.  Everything but what is right here in front of me.  This is not helped by all of the media that is available.  Cell phones, tablets, TV, Apple Watches.  Useful devices, yes, but not good at helping one focus.  In many cases, I miss out on what is happening right in front of me because I am so focused on what I need to be doing somewhere else.

So, my one word is HERE.  What that means to me is that I will focus on what is happening in the moment I am in right now.  I will focus on the HERE and now.  I can focus on what needs to happen later when the time comes.  Honestly, there is nothing I can do about those other things anyway, so why expend energy on them.  Put up the electronics and be in the moment. Close e-mails and news and see the person in front of me.  Clear my mind of those things out of my control at that moment and enjoy what is going on now.

My goal is to live life HERE, focusing on the present and what I can do right now, letting other things come in the proper time. Isn't that how life is supposed to be lived?