Helen Ng has no idea that her simple words have done more to keep me observing the present moment than any others I have read. Eckhart Tolle wrote an entire book about it, and here is Helen saying it all in one sentence. Take string beans, for example. I don’t like them at all, but I do prepare them for the family, which I did last week. There I stood at the sink, washing the beans, appreciating their greenness as they danced sensually through my fingers. “Um, how luscious they look and feel… ah, but I don’t have to eat them.”
If green beans don’t do anything for you, what about sushi? At my favorite sushi bar last week it took me twice as long to eat my lunch because I was I was enjoying my usual combo of salmon and avocado, and spicy eel and avocado as if each piece was my last. The experience even has me peeking into the future, anticipating my next visit.