A short talk by Greg Faxon about how to enjoy fleeting moments by becoming present and grateful. He argues that recognizing life's transience should prompt conscious appreciation rather than future-focused yearning, and cautions against seeking lasting fulfillment from external achievements.
My friend Kyle asked me a question earlier today and he said, how do you enjoy something when you know it's fleeting, when you know it's not going to last? This is a really important question because everything in our lives is always fleeting. Everything's changing and evolving all the time. That's just the nature of life. So it's really important to know how do I get present and not get stuck in this future moment where I don't have the thing anymore? Sometimes my partner Emma and I will be sitting on a couch, you know, and hang out with our dog Scout, and we'll turn to each other and say, really, I'm going to be bummed when she dies. Which is a ridiculous thing to think about, right? Because she's alive right now, here, ready to be enjoyed and have a relationship with. So what's interesting about this question, how do you enjoy something even though it's fleeting? Is that the fact that it's fleeting is what should make you enjoy it. The fact that it's not going to be around forever, that it's scarce, that it's this moment in time is what should have you turn around and want to receive it and be in it fully, but you have to do that consciously. So when you flip to, okay, this is a great meal, what's the next one going to be? Or my business is going really well. What if I know that it's not going to last because I'm going to go on vacation, make less money or whatever it is? Well, that's a cue to you to notice what you love about what's happening and to be grateful for it. Because it's not going to last, it's going to become something else. So it's a cue to get present and notice, you know, if you're eating, what does it taste like, what are the sounds, what are the smells? What is this really, this experience that's right in front of me? The more important issue though, once you understand logically that it should be a cue to be grateful when you realize something's not going to last, is that if you're always looking for things externally, for experiences outside of yourself to make you feel whole or at peace, or to make you feel a real sense of well being and enjoyment, then you're always going to be looking to the future. You got to get that you're fully able, as able as you'll ever be right now, to have that deep sense of well being that you're looking for. And the six figures or the great car that you want or the great partner or the great body is not going to change anything. Because if you're still in the mindset of looking externally, looking into the future, to the horizon of what's the next thing that's going to make me complete, you'll never be able to enjoy what you have right in front of you.
