Paying Attention

This afternoon I took our dog for a walk.
We went to a nearby state park which is closed for the season which means I can let her off the leash and she can run and chase smells to her heart’s content.
And I can just walk.
This afternoon was sunny.
40 degrees.
The green pine trees provide the only color as the rest of the trees have lost their leaves and stand bare waiting for winter. The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for rain changing to snow which is one of the reasons we walked today.

“Pay attention.” I told myself.
Pay attention…
To the crisp air.
To the shape of the barren trees.
To the setting sun dropping behind the mountain.
To my dog as she runs free.
Pay attention.
But in the next moment I am somewhere else.
Where I am not even sure.
But not outside on a beautiful late fall day.
Not walking alongside the lake.
Not seeing the sun through the trees.
How do I get distracted so easily?
I realize I am somewhere else.
And pull myself back to where I want and need to be.
Over and over again it happens.
Attention.
Distraction.
Back to attention.
Back to some place other than where I am.

I don’t know much about wisdom, but I think it has something to do with paying attention.
Paying attention to where you are.
Paying attention to who you are with.
Paying attention to what you are thinking and feeling.
Paying attention to the longing in your soul.
Paying attention to my dog as she runs across the field.