NOTE: The quote in the image is attributed to both Robert Brault and Kurt Vonnegut. That's the reason I have not included a name in the image.

This is a quote that has inspired many of us. It reminds me of another famous quote:

For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been.' Poet John Greenleaf Whittier

Both quotes are a reminder of being aware of living fully in each moment. Of course we want to remember and cherish those big events, such as graduations, weddings, new jobs and the births of our children and grandchildren. But what about those little things – those simple pleasures of each day that add to the richness of life? As I get older I realize more and more that it is truly the little things that give meaning to life.

Today I ran across an Cnn.com where actress Golden Hawn talks about mindfulness. Hawn led a session at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos on the power of neuroscience and mindfulness to "change the world."

"It's extraordinary that this Davos this year seems to be centered a lot around the brain, a lot around stress reduction, mindfulness, all of these areas," she said.

"They're all coming out of the closet now, it's like they've all been meditating -- so many of them -- for 20 years and so forth. So it's beginning to happen -- mindful leadership."

Hawn explained how she believed a healthy mind could lead to healthy decision making.

"When the brain is silent, the executive function, which is this part of the brain that makes decisions can work much better. So when you get quiet you make better decisions, you're also more rested -- you're not as reactive," she said.

"So it's actually great for the economy, great for our leadership and our thought leaders."

 

After reading about Hawn and her panel session at Davos, I spent some time reading more about the concept of mindfulness. I found the interview/video The Importance Of The Mindfulness Tipping Point also from the 2014 Davos Annual Meeting. Otto Scharmer, chair of The Presencing Institute, has some interesting things to say about mindfulness and listening (click on link for video).

 Scharmer said listening is "at the root of everything." He said there are four types of listening, two of which many are already familiar with -- listening where "we attend to what we already know" and factual listening, where we learn something new.

But Scharmer said people today need to master two more types of listening -- empathic listening, where we are able to put ourselves in another's place, and what Scharmer calls generative listening, where we see another person in terms of past, present and future possibilities.

Shcarmer cited the late Nelson Mandela as someone who was a master of generative listening, which he said is perhaps the most important of each kind of listening.

I found lots of information about mindfulness, including benefits and techniques.  I am not yet totally convinced that mindfulness i a revoutionary technique that can solve the world's problems, but am still somewhat curious and hope to spend more time reading and perhaps trying out some of the suggested techniques.

After a long period of dormancy, we have released our new website. It has taken a while to get the site in order, but hopefully we will now have more time to add new content on a regular basis. Those of you who know me are, however, aware of the fact that I enjoy putting together a new website more than I do adding new content. Perhaps things will be different this time.

The new year is off to a good start. Not!!! Lots of snow as you can see in the January 18th blog post. Oh well. What can I expect? We are in Norway. Right?