Being Present In The Moment

Autumn is in the air here in the midwest. The crisp mornings, steam coming off the coffee, and the colors in the trees. Western Iowa looks like a postcard this time of year.

The weather and the scenery gives me a much needed nudge to get outside and soak it all in. There's no better way to spend that time than a day on the bench.

Picture this: Four shots, one hole…the perfect 5 shot group comes down to this last shot…

Your heart rate has quickened. It feels like it's ready to beat out of your chest. You catch the smell of powder in the breeze and wonder if the windage has changed.

You begin implementing your breathing practices and take an extra second to compose yourself. Anything you can do to make sure you put that fifth and final round right on top of the previous four.

If you're like me, that's a very familiar situation. Sitting at the bench saying do I or don't I? Do I risk ruining that one-hole group and put the fifth round downrange? I realize, more than likely, if that last round ventures outside of that one-hole group the blame may lie at the person behind the trigger.

Regardless of the excuses I tell myself, I will always finish that 5-shot group. Knowing perfectly well that I will either be smiling ear to ear with how it turned out, or saying "I knew I should have stopped at 4!!"

Truthfully, no matter what size the group ends up being, I consider it a win every single time.

Why is that?

Shooting from a bench requires me to be 100% present in that moment. There's nothing else going through my mind. It feels as though the rest of world is put on hold.

We spend our days in what seems like constant "fight or flight" mode. I welcome any opportunity to escape that mode and shift into more of a parasympathetic mode. If you're not familiar with the parasympathetic nervous system, it basically undoes the work of the sympathetic division after a stressful situation.

As much fun as it can be setting up a timer and running steel plates as fast as we can, there's just something about slowing everything down. When you take that extra minute to clear your mind, relax your body, and control your breathing - in search of that one-hole group.

That's my type of meditation!

Committed to Building it Better,