The Role of Noticing

Perhaps it sounds obvious that living in the moment and noticing those all-too-often overlooked daily joys is going to decrease your wants.

But what about your actual needs? And the desires that are out of reach but supposed to bring you and your family closer to Christ? Sometimes the pursuit of simplicity is not a matter of eliminating your desires. Instead, we are called to order them.

By actually living in the moment, our true desires can become more transparent to us; they don’t inflate in anxious pursuit of the future, nor do they diminish in rumination over the past. To truly live in the moment is to be in touch with the reality in which our desires unfold.

The act of noticing anchors us to the present moment. We often rely on instinct and reflexive automation to notice the world around us. We get habituated to noticing only what is essential for survival. We miss simple pleasures. Making the very act of noticing intentional avails us of finding more evidence that our lives are comprised of momentary joys.

Getting back to the idea that many of our unmet desires may be connected to good and noble pursuits that are frustratingly out-of-reach: noticing the simple joys of the day will not reduce those unmet desires if they are put there by God. But noticing can also increase our ability to pursue those seemingly out-of-reach desires and help you achieve your goals by:

- reducing distractions

- helping you prioritize

- managing stress/anxiety

With distractions at bay, priorities defined, and a higher level of calm each day, living in the moment by “noticing more” is a healthy and relatively straight-forward task that will bring the clarity you need to make good decisions- informed by calm and long-term wellness.

Notice more today by planning a two-three minute break later in the day to step outside, stand on the porch, or look out the window, leaving your phone inside and only noticing- without judgment- the sights & sounds of your environment.

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