Trying to stay present

I took the day off from work today.
I ran some errands, had lunch out and got a mani/pedi.
While at lunch I practiced taking my time to eat and enjoy my food. Now I was guilty of checking e-mail, Facebook and text messages while eating. But I reminded myself that I should take the time to enjoy my lunch and be present.
I put the phone away and ate my super yummy thin crust pizza and drank my glass of white.
While eating lunch I also did some people watching and listening, which I may have missed had my face been stuck onto the screen of my phone.
I saw a teenager wearing an Awesome Oakland T-shirt. I overheard a high-strung woman ordering pizza and drinks for herself and those at her table. I watched as a kid struggled with the pizza board and trash. I flirted with a little guy in a stroller. I overheard a woman telling her lunch companion about a guy who is in his 50s and got into a bar fight. I overheard a woman asking, What’s in that pizza? (In front of every pizza on the counter is the name of the pizza and what’s in it.)
After lunch I headed to get a manicure and pedicure. Where I go (Galaxy Nails) they give the most amazing arm and leg massages. With my more recent mani/pedis I have decided to actually enjoy the mani/pedi and not be on my phone or read a book or magazine.
How can you enjoy your mani/pedi if you are chatting away on the phone? And frankly, many of us are there to relax and would rather not have to hear your annoying one-sided conversation.
Taking the time to be present in what you do can make a huge difference in how you experience life.
Deepak Chopkra says this to a reader on Oprah.com: Being present in the spiritual sense is different from being absorbed in a movie. That kind of absorption is a distraction, an escape from your awareness. Being present needs to be in a highly aware state.
Denial is such an easy thing for many of us to escape to. I am guilty of it regularly. Sometimes being present and highly aware can be painful, which is why it is hard for many of us to face that.
Deepak Chopkra says on his site about being present: Being fully present in the moment is valuable, not because you will remember it as a significant event, but because the present is the only place where you really live life. If you are imagining your future, then you aren’t here now, living life, making choices. Your attention is in the future where no choices can be made. If you are afraid or angry, then you are in the past, remembering old hurts and injustices. But to heal the past you need to bring your attention to the present, otherwise you are just reinforcing the old pain. There is nothing special to do or acknowledge in order to be present. It a matter of simply Being.
In case you didn’t read the paragraph above or it was way too much information, I want to point this out: “the present is the only place where you really live life.” Most of our worries and frustrations are from things that happened in the past. And the other worries and frustrations are for things we are anticipating, things that have not actually happened. 
I go over and over things in my head that have already happened, which upset me. With things that haven’t actually happened I come up with what could happen and get myself worked up over something that hasn’t happened and might not.
I work on being present. But I am human and that doesn’t always happen. But I regularly remind myself to stay present.
This month’s Go Fit Girl Monthly Challenge is about taking the time to enjoy food, being present while eating. And to just take things slower, not be so rushed. I tried to do that for myself today.
How is that going for you?