Over the past couple of years, as I’ve watched my son grow from a baby into a remarkable little boy, I’ve learned that a young child can teach an adult three key things:

to be happy for no specific reason at all
to always be curious and engaged with whatever is going on in the moment
to leverage all the available resources to get as much as you possibly can of what you desire 😉

It’s easy to see how the first two points reflect certain aspects of mindfulness – choosing to be happy and present. But, in my case, the third point is the most powerful mindfulness lesson of them all. You see, in our household, the third point often means Mac is begging ME to be more mindful. Because 90% of the time what he desires more than anything else in the world is more of daddy’s undivided attention – my full presence with him.

Yes, my little Mac has taught me a thing or two about the importance of being mindful and present. In fact, he has several unique ways of calling me out whenever I’m doing the opposite. Let me give you one simple, yet profound, example:

If Mac and I are playing in his bedroom and I walk out of the room for a few moments to do something, Mac will look around and shout, “Daddy, where are you?”

Seems like a logical response, right? But here’s the kicker…

If I never leave the room while we’re playing, but my iPhone vibrates with a random notification that distracts me for a few moments, Mac will look directly at me and shout, “Daddy, where are you?”

In both cases, Mac knows I’m not present. To him, my emotionally absent, distracted mindset is akin to me getting up and physically walking out of the room on him.

When I realized this, I made a change.

Recenter Your Mind – 12 Quotations

As you can tell, even though I’ve been studying and practicing mindfulness for the better part of a decade, I’m

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