Hi friends,

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’m an advocate for the meditation app Waking Up. If you prioritize your health, physical fitness is only part of the equation.

I’ve been listening to Joseph Goldstein’s The Path of Insight lectures on the Waking Up app and have come away with an incredibly powerful, yet simple tool to help avoid being lost in thought.

When feeling anxious, uneasy, or negative, just ask yourself “What’s happening.”

I didn’t think much of this phrase until I tried incorporating it into my daily life. What this does is force me to be present. I realized that I’ve been wasting so much time dwelling on past failures and future anxieties while forgetting to focus on what’s happening directly in front of me.

Here’s a quote by the American Cartoonist Bil Keane that sums this up well: “Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.”

All too often I find myself going through life checking boxes as a means to an end and forgetting the bigger picture. It’s about the journey along the way, not the destination. But that is easy to forget in day-to-day life.

Just asking yourself a few times per day, “What’s happening,” can have a profound impact on your daily experience. You may notice increased mental clarity and contentment, and less anxiety about the things to come.

Improving your mental health and training your mind can be one of the most beneficial things you do for your overall well-being.

Until next week,

Kevin