I’ve been thinking a lot about a scene I witnessed on our recent trip to Maine. Hubs and I were on a whale watching trip. We were on our way back to Bar Harbour when another whale appeared. The Naturalist who served as Lead Whale Watcher excitedly told us where to look. Everyone on board yelled, squealed or gasped with delight…except for one little boy. He was playing with his electronic gaming device and didn’t hear the announcement. His grandmother was clearly annoyed that he was missing this beautiful, majestic moment. She grabbed his head and moved it so that he would look at the action. He swatted her away and went back to his device. I thought about what a shame it was that he missed the whale. Later I turned off my judgment and thought about how many life moments I’ve missed when I:
- Halfway listened to hubs because I was reading the newspaper.
- Took photos for the express purpose of immediately posting them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Since seeing the boy on the boat I’ve shifted my approach to taking photos to record a moment in time, continue living in the moment, and post photos later, if at all.
- Was so focused on how I would respond to what was being said, I really wasn’t listening to what was being said.
- Answered a non-emergent text while dining with friends or family.
- Tried to multitask and ended up performing sub-par on everything.
I seriously doubt that boy’s life is ruined because he chose not to watch the whale. But he gave me a much-needed lesson in living in the moment with intention.
482gr8 