Jillian's August 1 Post: Giving a Moment

First Lady Michelle Obama said in a recent statement in USA Today, "Americans are responding to the hardship around them by reaching out in service to others, giving their time when they cannot give their money." A historian at New York University added, "We're at the beginning of a generosity high, a sense that we can make a difference."

I began to think of how we can accomplish this spirit of giving in the simplest of moments. And if enough of us practiced these moments, how we could live in a culture of presence and contribution every day.

Mark, an accomplished, young CEO, who often logs sixteen-hour days, told me in Change Your Life Through Travel, how he felt different on a trip to the British Virgin Islands:

"I was present, in the moment there," he said. "I'd walk into the local cafes and talk to people; really talked, and connected with them. At home, there's never enough time. If I have time to call friends, it's a ten–minute talk. I'm too busy to really slow down, connect."

But in the British Virgin Islands Mark realized, "That's not enough. I want more than that," and he began meditating, for the first time in his life, on that trip.

"Since then, I've meditated every day for forty minutes before I start work. I begin my meditations by reviewing images in my head from my travels. Sitting on the beach in the British Virgin Islands is my favorite image. But, occasionally, I go through others, like the Grand Canyon, the beauty of the view from a Colorado mountain peak or the dew in morning in Napa. And I immediately feel expanded. It reminds me how incredible this world is."

And it slows Mark down.

A month after he had returned from the British Virgin Islands, his vice president of operations said to him, "I don't know what you took, or what you did, while you were on vacation but you're different."

And Mark told me, "And you know what? I am. I have more patience with my staff. I listen better to their problems. Even in the grocery store, I stop to look the clerk in the eye to say ‘Thank you.' And people seem grateful, just for my taking the time to acknowledge them."