Go Slow, BE PRESENT, and Eat Huckleberries

Core Principle #2 of The Science of the Positive is to BE PRESENT. The benefits of being present are many. One of those is to remind you of what really matters in life.  Another is that you find more huckleberries.

I was away for work for most of June and the beginning of July, and my schedule showed no signs of slowing down. But I was determined to get out for a backpack with my teenage son, a tradition we've had since he was just six. So I blocked off two days I couldn’t really spare, and Christopher and I headed out for a trail not too far from home. 

The next day, as we bushwhacked a short route back to the trailhead, my mind was already on the projects and clients waiting for my attention. Until Christopher brought me back to the moment with one word: “Huckleberries!”

Suddenly everything I was hurrying back for felt like it could wait. We dropped our packs, sat down in the shade, and talked quietly as we picked and ate. My leadership lesson? That sometimes there is nothing more important in the world for me to do than to sit in the woods with my teenage son, being totally present.