Last Friday evening, I went for a walk, planning to head home for a quiet night afterward. As I passed through a nearby food truck park, I heard something familiar — live music from the 80s. A local band was playing some of my favorite songs, and people were hanging out, listening, dancing, and having fun.
My first instinct was to keep walking. After all, I was already on my way home.
But then I stopped and asked myself a simple question: Why?
I had nowhere else to be. Nothing I needed to do. No one waiting for me. Why was I in such a hurry to get home?
So, I decided to stay.
One glass of champagne turned into two. I listened to the music, watched people dancing, and soaked up an evening I hadn’t anticipated. What began as an ordinary walk became an unexpected experience that reminded me how much life has to offer when we’re willing to participate.
And to think, I almost walked right past it.
Interrupting the Autopilot
We all have routines, habits, and plans that help us navigate our days. They provide structure, create efficiency, and allow us to move through life without having to consciously consider every decision.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But sometimes, without realizing it, we begin following our plans simply because they’re our plans.
We operate on autopilot.
That evening, I wasn’t heading home because I needed to. I was heading home because that’s what I’d intended to do.
Had I not stopped to question that decision, I would have missed an experience that was right in front of me.
Interrupting our autopilot doesn’t always mean something is wrong. Sometimes we interrupt it because something else is available.
So much of how we experience life is shaped by patterns, assumptions, and habitual responses that operate beneath our conscious awareness.
The opportunity is to recognize those patterns, question whether they’re still serving us, and remember that we have a choice.
Awareness creates the opening. Choice gives us the freedom to respond differently.
And sometimes, the most intentional thing we can do is change our plans.
Live with Presence. Engage with Intention.
One of the foundational principles of my coaching practice is simple:
Live with Presence. Create with Intention.
It’s about being conscious of how we show up in life and deliberate about what we choose to create.
During a recent trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I began exploring another expression of that philosophy — one that took shape during a visit to the Snow King Observatory & Planetarium.
While there, I almost skipped a film called Dark Universe, an exploration of dark matter, dark energy, and the extraordinary mysteries of our universe. I had other things I could have done. But curiosity got the better of me, and I stayed.
What followed was an unexpected experience of wonder and awe. Realizing that everything we can see represents only a small fraction of the universe didn’t make my life feel smaller. It made my perspective bigger, reminding me that life is too extraordinary to spend consumed by things that don’t really matter.
The experience reinforced something important:
Not every meaningful moment requires us to accomplish something. Sometimes, the greatest discoveries happen when we stop trying to make something happen.
And it gave me another way to express how I want to live:
Live with Presence. Engage with Intention.
Presence is about how we show up. Engagement is about what we do with that presence.
Sometimes we’re creating — setting goals, making plans, and intentionally shaping what comes next.
Other times, we have nowhere else to be and nothing that needs to be done. Those are opportunities to stop doing and simply be.
But being doesn’t mean disengaging.
It means allowing ourselves to participate fully in the experience before us — whether that’s listening to music, connecting with another person, exploring something unfamiliar, or appreciating the world around us.
We’re not engaging to get something out of the moment. We’re engaging to be fully IN the moment.
From Recognizing to Creating
That Sunday, I returned to the park for the final afternoon of live music before the venue closed for the season. This time, it wasn’t an unexpected discovery. I intentionally chose to go back.
Friday, I recognized an opportunity. Sunday, I created one.
Both were conscious choices.
Living intentionally isn’t always about pursuing the next destination or accomplishing the next goal. Sometimes it’s about recognizing what’s already available and choosing to experience it.
Live with Presence — Be here.
Engage with Intention — Participate fully.
Create with Intention — Choose what comes next.
As I’ve moved through this past year and my reMARKable Odyssey, I’ve noticed something: Life keeps offering me opportunities to experience something unexpected, and I’ve become increasingly willing to say yes.
The next time life invites you to stop, notice, and participate, consider accepting the invitation.
You don’t always need a destination, a plan, or a reason.
Sometimes, being fully where you are is enough.
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