I’ve sat in this cafe at least a dozen times over the last year or so and never noticed how diverse the lights. They are different sizes, shapes and strength.
If I’m honest, the only reason I haven’t noticed the lights before, is because I have never been fully present in this cafe. I’ve never taken the time to sit and just absorb my surroundings and let the sights and sounds connect me in the moment.
As a futurist most of my thoughts are in the future. I know others who spend most of their thought life in the past.
And of course there are a few lucky people who are incredibly good at being present. At noticing. Engaging. Connecting. Absorbing. And ultimately enjoying the moment.
The past is behind us, the future is coming. Only now can we live fully in this moment.
∴
One of my weaknesses is being present.
I’m certainly not saying we shouldn’t review the past, or think of the future. But if our thoughts and conversations are always somewhere other than here, in this moment, then in a way we are missing out on living.
It took the entire history of mankind up to the 1800’s before the world reached a population of 1 billion people. Nowadays we add a billion people to the population every 13 years.