25 points down in the 3rd quarter, the Patriots won with a record-breaking comeback, down the wire in overtime. It was a tight game throughout and exhilarating to watch. The intensity of the game was gripping, keeping many eyeballs zero’ed in. Amidst the shifts in momentum that occured, both teams were in the zone. Being turned on to that level of intensity redefines what it means to be present. There is an immediacy to the moment. The players’ bodies are responding in real time with the confluence of events happening 360. The players’ are not checking their phones or chit chatting about the past or future. Plans are developing in real time and responses are orchestrating to the emotional demands of the present. Down 25 points, the Patriots contained the intensity of the game and diligently dug themselves out of the hole, unshook by negative circumstance.
What if every moment is a super bowl moment? The way I think of mindfulness, at its best, is this way of paying attention with a dire intensity yet not swept away by it. It’s a process of keenly noticing, broadly acknowledging, and consciously responding, versus compulsively reacting. Mindfulness is present when the senses are full with a sheer aliveness. It could be when you’re doing something meaningful or creative. Mindlessness is present during phantom texts when we reach for the phone out of pure habit.
Living our Superbowl moments in the here-and-now is a gradual process of breathing, noticing, and responding to what is.