Welcome back to the FiveMinuteFriday episode of the SuperDataScience Podcast!
This week, I discuss a unique way to appreciate the gift of being alive.
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In an effort to minimize information overload, I don’t subscribe to a lot of emails or newsletters. But one I do subscribe to is Raptitude which provides general guidance on better human behavior. In a recent post, David outlined a simple strategy for bringing you into the preset moment and appreciating it.
The exercise goes like this: imagine it is the distant future and you are long dead but by some cosmic mistake you are brought back to life at this precise moment. After centuries of black nothingness, there is feeling and sight and sounds. Life is always this magical. But our thinking mind tends to get caught up I the next thing to do. The more mundane of circumstance you do this in, the more riveting it becomes. I often do this during my mundane walk from apartment to elevator and it enriches the moment for me.
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Podcast Transcript
(00:05): This is FiveMinuteFriday, on How to Instantly Appreciate Being Alive.
(00:19): In an effort to minimize inbox clutter and information overload in general, I don’t subscribe to many email newsletters, but one that I do subscribe to is Raptitude from David Cain. This newsletter — based on David’s blog of the same name — provides general guidance on how to be a better human. Posts are reliably relatable, actionable, and exceptionally well-written so I try not to miss any of them.
(00:43): In a recent post, David outlined a simple strategy for bringing you into the present moment and deeply appreciating that you’re alive in that very moment. The strategy is a straightforward mind experiment: Imagine that it’s long in the future and you’ve been long dead but by some cosmic mistake, you are brought back in time and back to life at this precise moment.
(01:09):
That’s it. It’s a simple idea but try it right now. Imagine you’re supposed to be dead but instead you’ve been brought back to life, back into your body as it is at this instant. After centuries of black nothingness, there is suddenly the color of the scene you’re beholding with your eyes, the sounds around you, the feeling of your feet on the ground.
That’s it. It’s a simple idea but try it right now. Imagine you’re supposed to be dead but instead you’ve been brought back to life, back into your body as it is at this instant. After centuries of black nothingness, there is suddenly the color of the scene you’re beholding with your eyes, the sounds around you, the feeling of your feet on the ground.
(01:32):
Life is this magical all of the time, but our thinking mind tends to get caught up in its next worry, its next thing to do. Interestingly, David points out — and I agree with him through my own revisiting of this “poof, you’re suddenly alive” thought experiment several times each day — that the more mundane the circumstance you do it in, the more paradoxically riveting it is to remember how special it is that you’re alive.
Life is this magical all of the time, but our thinking mind tends to get caught up in its next worry, its next thing to do. Interestingly, David points out — and I agree with him through my own revisiting of this “poof, you’re suddenly alive” thought experiment several times each day — that the more mundane the circumstance you do it in, the more paradoxically riveting it is to remember how special it is that you’re alive.
(02:00):
For me, for example, I often experience this in the otherwise boring walk through the homogeneously colored hall from my apartment to the elevator. What was previously something I was trying to rush through — trying to get to the elevator to where I’m going — I’m now immersed in this rich appreciation of the moment. It may not be the most exciting moment of my life, but boy it sure is a lot more interesting than being dead! So, it’s yet another moment to value and to be grateful for.
For me, for example, I often experience this in the otherwise boring walk through the homogeneously colored hall from my apartment to the elevator. What was previously something I was trying to rush through — trying to get to the elevator to where I’m going — I’m now immersed in this rich appreciation of the moment. It may not be the most exciting moment of my life, but boy it sure is a lot more interesting than being dead! So, it’s yet another moment to value and to be grateful for.
(02:29):
All right, that’s it for today’s episode. Hope you enjoy and appreciate being alive in a number of otherwise mundane moments between now and when I catch you next, on another round of the SuperDataScience show.
All right, that’s it for today’s episode. Hope you enjoy and appreciate being alive in a number of otherwise mundane moments between now and when I catch you next, on another round of the SuperDataScience show.
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