This morning I attended the memorial service for a
professional friend. Jeff Rothstein was a much-loved
therapist, teacher, and family business consultant. In
only 52 years he made an enormous impact on the lives
of those he touched who took time today to share and
savor their memories of him.

I didn’t know Jeff well, but in our few encounters he
touched me, too. It was so clear today how much he
savored everything and everyone he encountered.

Sometimes my life moves way too fast for me to savor
it. I overindulge ­in travel, in people, in ideas, in
stuff (especially earrings), in food­ — the temptations
seem endless.

What about you? Is your computer filling with things
you want to read and follow up on, like mine is? How do
you overindulge? Do you know of a cure?

On this, my first quiet Saturday afternoon at home in
what seems like a very long time, I found myself with
a snack — ­cashew butter on multigrain toast­, and nothing
to read on the kitchen table. I decided to just be
still and think while I enjoyed my food.

I once practiced mindful eating, paying attention to
every bite instead of multitasking, for almost a year.
That was the year I finally dropped the extra weight I
had accumulated. I feel like I’ve been helplessly
letting my clothes get tight again.

Of course I’m not helpless, just focused on other
things.

I counted the days and realized that I’ve been away
from home for a third of the time since the middle of
May. Seven trips. The shortest was 3 days and less
than 100 miles. The longest was almost 3 weeks and 9
time zones. Each was wonderful in its own way, and
overall, way too much.

Now that I’m not traveling for at least 6 weeks, I
will be taking time to get centered and focused again.
One of my goals is to organize and release some of the
articles in my archives. It is really important to me
to have people benefit from the useful materials I
have stored in my files.

When I am reminded again of the uncertainty of life,
that is an important priority.

What priorities have you put on hold because your life
is full of other things? How will you focus on what is
really important to you?

[tags]personal growth, relationships, self-improvement [/tags]