In the morning fog, as early fishermen cast their lines into the rolling surf, I caught a glimpse a large dog
digging furiously in the sand near his owner. I stopped to watch as the digging went on, accompanied by furious tail-wagging.
At first I thought he might be looking for something, or perhaps burying something, but as time went on I realized he was simply digging for the sake of digging.
His doggie delight was apparent and I could imagine, in an anthropomorphic kind of way, him humming a little ditty to himself, “I’m digging! I’m digging! Life is good! I’m digging!
Every once in a while he would stop for a second and look down the miles-long expanse of beach before him. I imagined his audible sigh of delight at the unlimited opportunity that lay ahead, and then in an instant he would return with fervor to the task before him.This was total immersion in the experience. This was living in the moment. This was something I have too often failed to do.
Popular holistic physician Deepak Chopra explained the phenomenon of losing track of time: “I think that (passion) is a very important component, to have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are expressing your unique talents you lose track of time”.
Dogs, unlike people, instinctively express their unique talents, and digging is one of them! They also have fewer impediments to living their passion and living in the present than people do.
When I stop to reflect on it, I have to acknowledge that my thoughts are often preoccupied with the past – things already over and done with, words already spoken, mistakes already made. But then again, I often spend many thoughts on the future – when things will get better financially or plans for repairing the house or things that might go wrong or situations that I just want to see improve.
These thoughts often distract me from my work or keep me awake at night. They are not productive but, rather, drain me of energy. It requires concentrated effort on my part to dismiss them from my mind and enter fully into the experience in which I find myself at any particular moment.
Still, I have noticed, there are some special times when, without effort, I find myself totally immersed in the joy of the present of moment. These are times when minutes seem to move by at lightening speed but I am unaware of their passing. These are times, most often, when I am writing, or practicing a piece of music, or gathered around a table with family or friends sharing food and drink, stories and laughter. These are all times of great blessing.
“ ‘Present-moment living,’ getting in touch with your ‘now,’ is at the heart of effective living,” writes Dr. Wayne Dyer. “When you think about it, there really is no other moment you can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives. One thing is certain, you cannot live it until it does appear.”
You don’t have to tell that to the dog on the beach!