Presence vs. Convenience

Over the weekend, I was sitting outside at a restaurant enjoying a beautiful view and enjoying the music. They were playing songs that I grew up listening to and I found myself whisked away to a simpler time. My phone was in my purse, and I forgot that I even had a phone or responsibilities quite honestly. When we live in the moment, time seems to slow down as we savor little moments.

This got me thinking about how there is sometimes beauty in no choice. I wasn’t in control of the music at this establishment. No Touch Tunes no iPhone connected by USB. No DJ offering songs by request. Just the music that was offered. Music that I probably wouldn’t have chosen for myself as a kid, but I came to appreciate because I was surrounded by adults who loved it. Music from Hall and Oates and The Eagles. Music that was loved by adults who engulfed me in their love for it and for me. I can remember sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car, taking it all in, answering the one question he would always ask, “Who sings this?”

There’s no sitting by the radio waiting for the DJ to play your requests. There’s no hurrying to press record, so your cassette tape can capture that one song you wanted to hear on repeat. There’s no hurrying home to catch “Home Improvement” and no running to grab the Oreos from cabinet during the commercial break.

It’s beautiful that we can listen to our favorite songs on repeat, and we can watch our favorite shows when we want, pausing them to answer the phone or run and grab a snack. There’s much to be said for a life of convenience. I don’t think I could actually go back. Why would we?

But it’s also OK to say, “Sometimes, I don’t want to have to make those choices. Sometimes, I want to sit with what is and allow it to teach me something about life. About the present. About what’s right in front of me.”

There is much to be said for choice and having things just the way we like it. But let’s also not forget the joy of simply being with whatever and whomever is sharing in the moment with us too.

Appreciating what is has a lot to teach us. That show we wouldn’t have watched if given the option. That song we wouldn’t have played. That place we wouldn’t have traveled. That meal we wouldn’t have eaten.

There is much tension in the world and a times significant division, and it seems many of us are not practiced in experiencing what wasn’t our choice or our way let alone conversations that may not bend toward our opinions, preferences, and lifestyles.

This week if something comes your way that wasn’t what your choice…even in the smallest way, allow yourself to be awake in the noticing. There might be something there for you. A small lesson, a reminder, a memory, or perhaps a jolt out of the regular and routine that allows you to see beauty that exists in this one precious little life.

I don’t want to life to pass me by because I chased convenience.