the 3 ft fog

i wonder sometimes, during my half-hour commute to work, if we had more daily moments of reflection, how much more persepctive our world would have!? i mean, from my observations, the common person wakes up, gets ready, drives to work, works, packs up, drives home, goes to the gym or unwinds in front of the "tube," or by prepping and cooking dinner, eats dinner, talks a bit with our spouse, our roommates, our pet(s), on the phone with our friends, or we veg out with our DVR, get ready for bed and then go to sleep. the most insightful and reflective time of the day is subconsciously in our sleep. im not saying that this is unacceptable on occassion, but it is an unacceptable life.

i call this type of experience my "3 ft fog." it's when you feel like your mind cant see past 3 ft in front of you. clouded by busyness, mental conversations of randomness, nothingness or even worse, worries. all of this fog is created by one's self. all of the thoughts are selfish, even when thinking of others, we tend to put them into "our" life. rarely do we break away from this mentality, but when we do, oh how the view is beautiful!!! the moments when we really appreciate our wife or husband, best friend, boy friend or girl friend, mom and dad, brother or sister, or who ever, is when we break free from the fog, and see them from another view. our sight is bigger, better and more whole than before. we start to realize their thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. we take them into account and see them as "others" in this game of life. when we start to see that our life is not the only life and that others are just as important as us, we begin a movement towards altruism, and away from egoism. i will develop this idea a bit further in later posts, but for now, lets get to the "practical exercise" for the day.

PE: the next time you get in your car (when driving somewhere that is a habit, dont want us to get lost while doing this exercise) try to not think about what's on your mind. try to think about what's on the minds of those driving around you. dont be too judgmental, rather, imagine yourself driving their car, going where they are going (home, work, kids soccer game, etc), and really see their life from their perception.