Mindfulness - Your Present Moment

David Whyte speaking out as a poet is looking to connect the heart and soul of the individual in the corporate community which at times seems heartless. Again we touch the power of being able to live life fully…with no regrets, in doing meaningful work and work which deals with life and change.

Years ago I purchased “The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America” by David Whyte as my Christmas present to my Vistage members. I know it has touched the heart and soul of a number of them. It brings to life, the point in each of our lives and the lives of those we serve in corporate settings where:

Nel mezzo del cammin
De nostra vita
Mi retrovai
Per un oscure silva.

Commedia (The Divine Comedy)
Dante Alighieri

In the middle of the road of my life
I awoke in a dark wood
where the true way was wholly lost.

Whyte goes on to say: “In three brief lines Dante says that the journey begins right here. In the middle of the road. Right beneath your feet. This is the place. There is no other place and no other time. Even if you are successful and follow the road you have set yourself, you can never leave here. Despite everything you have achieved, life refuses to grant you, and always will refuse to grant you, immunity from its difficulties.” p. 27
(The Heart Aroused. Currency Doubleday, ©1994, 1996)

Mindfulness is being aware in the moment in which we are. As Thich Nhat Hanh would say, “Breathe and Smile.” Thoughts are like breathe, they come and go. Continue breathing and you will find that once you let a thought go, you are back in the gift of life, the present.

< >< ><-->