Being Present: Live your life as if it can't be recorded.

Driving home one evening, just past midnight, after a snowstorm, I went to the passenger side of my SUV, only to realize it had been broken into. After getting over the initial shock and that sunken feeling of being violated, I realized that my camcorder was gone.

Now, what I quickly came to realize was that what was most important wasn't the camcorder itself, but the memories I lost that were on the tapes inside. You see, I kept my camcorder in its original box, with one tape inside the camera and two tapes in the box. I was planning to tape a tennis match the evening prior. Now, of all the tapes that could have been stolen, these three were the most special ones.

Two of them were of doubles tennis matches, where I played against Tom Gullikson in one, whose twin brother Tim worked with tennis great Pete Sampras, during our grand opening at our tennis club, and the other against Tim Mayotte, a former Olympic silver medalist.

Not only were the matches closely contested, but I found myself playing my best tennis in front of an audience. However the one that meant the most was the tape that was in the camcorder, the one of our baby Madison's "firsts." Her first crawl, her first cry (although she doesn't do that much), her first meal, her first smile.

Now that she has just turned nine months, it hit home with me that we will never be able to relive those "firsts," those moments of utter joy that make life worth reliving.

Then I came to the realization that if I lived life in the moment, being present and aware of all of its beauty, and being in balance and at peace with myself, knowing that there is no better time than the present, I would have no regrets.


Live your life as if it can't being recorded, but only enjoy it to its fullest, being present, with the only recording being in your heart, mind and soul.

Suggested Reading/Viewing:

TENNIS and the Meaning of Life Edited by Jay Jennings
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
The Pursuit of HAPPYness by Sony Pictures

Links:

http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm