Spontaneity -- Again

It's uncommon for me to re-visit a topic, but a realization came to me. If you've already recognized this, my apology. In fact, this calls for me to re-visit Being Present, as well. And, to combine the two.

As I spoke with my most spontaneous friend this week, she expressed curiosity about my view of her and her life and what I thought it meant. My response was, "Your willingness to be spontaneous keeps you primarily in the present. It keeps you in your life rather than mostly in your mind." A lot of thoughts run through my mind on a pretty consistent basis; but, I have to admit that the link between these two had not occurred to me until I made that statement to her. Sure, I've said, as others have, that being present is about deliberately staying in a state of mindfulness. However, that's only part of it.

What happens when you confront spontaneity? You look around. You see who's there, what your environment is, what may happen, what may not happen. You become aware of a lot of things as you make a fairly rapid decision. Hopefully, you tap into what you really feel about it. You ask yourself which you will regret more: Doing it or not doing it. Once you decide on the spontaneous action or, perhaps, comment, you become fully engaged. That's when mindfulness comes in handy...because you don't want to be thinking about anything other than what you're engaged in. Just to be clear on a point: Spontaneity does involve decision-making.

If you're not reticent about or fearful of being spontaneous, if you're not thinking about anything other than what you're involved with, well, you've gotten out of your mind and into your life. That's kind of a good clue about what to do if or when you feel bored or stagnant in your life. To borrow from a phrase familiar to some of you: Practice Random Acts of Spontaneity.

When do you feel your most enlivened self? It's when you are consciously, deliberately engaged with what you're doing. Next time someone says to you (or you experience this yourself), "I don't feel as 'alive' as I'd like to," maybe you'll give this a bit of thought. A spontaneous act can get you there pretty darn quickly. Just don't be surprised at how you enrich your life experience.