Riding Amtrak from Philadelphia to DC this morning as I do at least once a week, I was in the middle of my morning meditation as we approached Wilmington. I love to meditate on the train because the physical sensation of the train moving provides an energetic dimension that I find supports being in the moment. This morning I experienced that even more intensely. “Now arriving, Wilmington,” the conductor announced, and I felt myself jolted back to NOW. I thought, NOW I am at Wilmington, this place, on this train, and this moment won’t ever happen again, in this way, in this life.
And I then thought, what if we were able to carry the sense of that “now arriving” to this moment with us at all times? What if we “arrived” squarely in this moment, this now, again, and again, with each fresh moment? What if we treasured that “now” instead of always looking back and ahead, fretting about what might have been, and planning ahead for what might be?