t-shirt with message

I'm a substitute teacher and spend a large part of my day with teenagers in classrooms. If no one intervenes, they will spend easily half their classroom time on their phones. They are often surly and defiant when told to put them away. One day I took just a minute to explain why I was making them do so. "It takes you out of the moment," I said. "You're not giving your full attention to anything, including your schoolwork or your friends, as long as that phone is in your hand." I was surprised at how well they took that. In confronting this, I became aware of how much I was missing of my own life for similar reasons. I'm so preoccupied with unimportant stuff that I miss out on the important. I forget to breath. Forget to look around. Forget to take note of the state of the humans around me. Of the flowers. Of the dog that wants to play fetch. Of my sons. Of my husband's looks of tenderness. So I'm making a point of putting aside distractions like electronics (especially my cell phone) and try to make what's going on around me a priority. "Be Present" has become my mantra. Hopefully, it will become yours too.