By+Leo+Babauta1
I was in a plane descending2) into Portland for a quick stopover, and I gazed upon a brilliant pink sunrise over blue and purple mountains, and my heart ached.
Instinctively, I looked over to Eva to share this breath-taking moment, but she was sleeping. I felt incomplete, not being able to share the moment with her, or with anyone. Its beauty was slipping through my fingers.
This was a teachable moment for me: I somehow felt this moment wasnt enough, without being able to share it. It took me a second to remind myself: this moment is enough.
Its enough, without needing to be shared or photographed or improved or commented upon. Its enough, awe-inspiring3) just as it is4).
Im not alone in this feeling, that the moment needs to be captured by photo to be complete, or shared somehow on social media. Its the entire reason for Instagram, for instance.
We feel the moment isnt enough unless we talk about it, share it, somehow solidify5) it. The moment is ephemeral6), and we want solidity and permanence. This kind of groundlessness7) can scare us.
This feeling of not-enoughness is fairly pervasive8) in our lives:
We sit down to eat and feel we should be reading something online, checking messages, doing work. As if eating the food werent enough.
We get annoyed with people when they dont act as we want them to—the way they are feels like its not enough.
We feel directionless and lost in life, as if the life we have is not already enough.
We procrastinate9) when we know we should sit down to do important work, going for distractions, as if the work is not enough for us.
We always feel theres something else we should be doing, and cant just sit in peace.
We mourn10) the loss of people, of the past, of traditions ... because the present feels like its not enough.
We are constantly thinking about whats to come, as if its not enough to focus on whats right in front of us.
We constantly look to improve ourselves, or to improve others, as if we and they are not already enough as we are.
We reject situations, reject people, reject ourselves, because we feel theyre not enough.
What if we accepted this present moment, and everyone and everything in it, as exactly enough?
What if we needed nothing more?
What if we accepted that this moment will slip away when its done, and saw the fleeting11) time we had with the moment as enough, without needing to share it or capture it?
What if we said yes to things, instead of rejecting them?
What if we accepted the "bad" with the good, the failures with the attempts, the irritating with the beautiful, the fear with the opportunity, as part of a package deal that this moment is offering us?
What if we paused right now, and saw everything in this present moment around us (including ourselves), and just appreciated it for what it is, as perfectly enough?
我乘坐的飞机准备降落到波特兰短暂停留时,我望见一道灿烂夺目的粉红朝霞笼罩着远处蓝紫相间的山脉,我的心为之一痛。
本能地,我看了眼伊娃,想同她分享这壮观的时刻,可她却睡着了。我有一种不完整的感觉,因为无法同伊娃,哪怕任何一个人分享这一刻。美景就这样从我的指间溜走。
这一刻让我有所感悟:我莫名地觉得这一刻不够尽兴,是因为没能与他人共享它。我用了一会儿才提醒自己:这一刻已经足够。
这一刻已经足够,它不需要被分享、被拍照、被改善或被评论。它已然是那样的令人惊叹,这就够了。
并非只有我一个人有这样的感受,即认为这一刻应该被相机捕捉下来或被分享到社交媒体上才算完整。这正是Instagram之类的社交媒体出现的原因。
我们觉得这一刻还不够,除非我们谈论了它,分享了它,以某种方式将它凝固。这一刻是短暂的,而我们想要的是凝固和永恒。这种飘忽不定的感觉使我们害怕。
这种不够的感觉在我们生活中相当普遍。
我们坐下来吃东西时总觉得还要上网看点什么、查查有什么信息、做点工作上的事情,就好像光吃东西这件事并不足够一样。
我们常常对那些不按我们的想法行事的人感到恼火——他们的行事方式让人感觉做得还不够。
我们感到在生活中失去了方向,迷失了自我,好像我们所拥有的生活并不足够。
我们在自知该坐下来干点要事的时候拖拖拉拉,反而去做一些令我们分心的事情,就好像对我们而言那件重要的事情还不够似的。
我们总是觉得还有些其他事要做,因而不能就那么安安静静地坐着。
我们悼念那些逝去的人、悼念过去、悼念传统……因为活在当下并不能让我们感到满足。
我们总是想着接下来会发生什么,就好像仅仅关注眼前的事并不足够一样。
我们不断地想着提高自己,或者改善他人,就好像我们和他们现在这个样子还不够一样。
我们不满于当下的状况,不满于他人、不满于我们自己,因为我们觉得这些都不足够。
假如我们接受此刻,接受处在这一刻的所有人和所有事,觉得这些刚好足够,会怎样呢?
假如我们不再需要更多,会怎样呢?
假如我们接受此刻结束后就会溜走这一事实,认为我们这一刻所拥有的转瞬即逝的时间无需分享,也无需用镜头去捕捉就已足够时,又会怎样呢?
假如我们不再拒绝很多事情,而是抱着接受的态度又会怎样呢?
假如我们在接受好的同时又能接受“坏”,接受尝试的同时又能接受失败,接受美的同时又能接受不快,接受机遇的同时又能接受恐惧,就好像这一切都是这一刻交付给我们的成套交易一样时,又会怎样呢?