Mindful moment

This past Sunday I drove home to spend time with my family because it was my Moms birthday! I had a great time there but the story I want to tell comes after I left home on Monday afternoon to drive back to my house in Burke.  As I drove down the familiar roads I didn’t really realize how much brain chatter I had going on.  I thought about my plans for the week, my sister, my homework, things that happened in the past, I thought about so many things.  It took something absolutely breathtaking to snap me back to reality and realize the gifts of the present moment that I am able to ignore so effectively sometimes.  The sunset directly behind my car had the entire half of the sky vibrant oranges and pinks, while the sky directly in front of me was all blue and clouds.  I was so moved by the beauty of the sky behind me that I couldn’t keep my eyes off the rear-view mirror, except to look out the side mirror and see the orange reflection covering my black car.  I ended up pulling into a parking lot so that I could pause to have a mindful moment.  I had been in such a hurry to get home yet 10 minutes of stillness with the beauty that would have been behind me the entire time I drove changed my entire mood.  It was inspiring and quieted my mental chatter.  The sunset didn’t last long and soon I was driving home in the dark.  I am so glad I stopped to enjoy that moment though and I think I have become a lot more aware of these opportunities for mindful moments throughout my days.