Steven I have been thinking of this a lot lately. The one thing I have understood is that once you have this figured out, your life will most likely change in a profound way. I am still trying to fully figure it out too. Life is a gift, but we don't treat it that way. We are too caught up in our own problems and issues. The older you get, the more caught up you are in the "issues" of life, the faster time goes by, and the less you actually live.
Have you ever tried looking at the world as a child again? Have you seen the way a baby looks at a red balloon? It's with a real sense of awe and wonder. We can talk a lot here, but thoughts, concepts, schedules, mental "noise", will always keep experience at a distance. The baby, the dog, the puppy, they aren't this way. They are in a quieter state, and so they experience life more fully. They are more attentive, more present, and less in the worry of tomorrow or in sorrow about the past. Practicing this state is important. You and I may feel that we have more days behind us than in front of us, but there is even more bad news. The rate at which time will pass us by is going to continue to accelerate. This is a common and very real phenomena. Between 80-90 you may have ten chronological years, but it will feel about the same as when you were going from 8-9. It is quite spooky. I've tried to understand this, and it seems that mental noise, goals, projecting into the future, have a lot to do with it. If you quiet down like a baby even for a minute, and stare at a red baloon, hear the sounds around you, feel your breath in and out, that minute will last a long time. This needs constant practice until you are no longer so "distracted". It is a difficult task but the quiet moments are very pleasant.
Great thread and some very thoughtful replies.
