I went for a walk in a park today. It was a beautiful sunny day. There were lots of trees and flowers. The birds were singing. It was just gorgeous.
And I was walking behind a young man taking his dog for a walk. The dog was having a lovely time – trotting along, sniffing the flowers and every now and then, he would look up at his human with great expectation of some sort of recognition.
None came.
The young man was walking along with earphones on and was glued to the screen on his phone.
I felt so sorry for that dog.
The dog was looking for some connection and there was none. He may as well have been on a walk on his own.
But don’t we all do the same thing?
How many of us go blindly through life focused on anything and everything except for where we are right then and there?
People flippantly talk about staying connected via social media, the latest TV shows, news and events. But what are we missing out on whilst we are glued to our screens?
Just like the guy walking his dog and not being at all aware of the beautiful day, the park or even his dog, the reality is that when we aren’t present, or when we are distracted, we are disconnected from the experience of right here and right now and the people right here and right now.
I’m a firm believer to really connect, we need to be present. And to do that, we need to disconnect to the very things that everyone believes we need in order to stay connected.
Perhaps it time to consciously and on purpose disconnect from all of those distractions in order to really connect with the people, the animals and the experiences that have the true meaning and value in our lives.
