Lesson 3
Attention

Exercise - First and Last

The things we do day after day lose their freshness, their sense of being a gift, or even a miracle.  

As you do each of the normal activities of your day, try imagining that this is the first time you've ever done it.  The first time you've ever set your feet on the floor as you stepped out of bed.  The first time you've ever tasted a banana.

Imagine that this is the last time you'll ever do it.  The last time you'll ever take a shower.  The last time you'll ever say goodnight to your sweetheart. 

What do you notice?

Breezing by our day, we miss so much. All the textures, flavors, aromas, and poignancy of each moment. We sleepwalk through our experiences, take them for granted, base everything we see on what we expect to see, what we’ve "seen" a thousand times before. Been there, done that.

How does it change your experience of your life if this is the first or the last time?

Also, what possibilities open up if this time doesn’t have to be the same as all the previous times? If we’re not limited by our experience, by the "knowledge" that we can’t (because we never have before)? If we’re not constrained by the confidence that we know how it will all turn out? What becomes possible when we allow in the not knowing of a first experience?

What would we appreciate more if we thought this might be the last time ever to have this experience? How does it change this moment?