There are very few times I get to focus all of my mind on one thing.  Typically I'm going several directions at once, and have had to learn how to funnel this properly so as to avoid mental fatigue.  I read a lot.  Every day.  And one reason I read is because by being in the midst of several stories, it helps me funnel some mental energy.  Some stays with this book, some stays with that.  

For the past few years, eight to be specific, I've had non-fiction and fiction both going on.  The non-fiction is typically religious.  I like religious thought and philosophy, especially takes on ancient life and how they live.  This reading is typically Christian, but I also very much respect the passions and routines of Islam.  Devoting yourself to God, thereby acknowledging you are not the center of the universe five times per day is pretty amazing.  I also really like the phrase "there is no God but God".  But, I digress.  A typical theme of thought is that one cannot move on to something more, until one becomes comfortable in and with their own surroundings.  In the midst of where they are today, right now.  This sentiment is on my mind a lot.  It speaks to me.  

Through the years, I've picked up a thread that people should be future minded, thinking about the next step, plotting for the next thing, which sort of overlooks the right now.  Misses that mark.  But the future, which will happen regardless, won't be any different from the present without steps being taken in the here-and-now to move us forward on a path.  To get us there.  The Future isn't some great mystical thing, it's a present that is yet to come.  One that will be here and will be either the same as now or different as now, dependent upon the actions of the present.  

Those actions can be better or worse dependent upon how I live and what I think, which is much better if it comes from a place of balance and calm.  Much better.  And the calm means I handle much present circumstances with grace, with honor, and take them as they are.  Right now.  In the midst of things as they are.