Top of the Stairs

Walking up the stairs this morning I noticed that all I was thinking about was getting to the top of the stairs. It was sunny up there, it was the end of the little journey. But why was I pushing aside, minimizing, ignoring, every other step of the way? Is it our nature to be goal-oriented like this all of the time? Is it learned behavior only, or is it innate? Some recent studies of the brain show that our subconscious may be shaping our decisions for us. Maybe this means that our conscious mind may just think it's in control. If this is true, we'd better start paying better attention, because most of us seem to believe in the decision-making certainty of the conscious mind. Setting up all the little goal-oriented actions throughout the day seems to turn us away from mindfulness. The Buddha (oh, I said it now) teaches that mindfulness is the one thing we can't have too much of. Noticing is always the first (and the next) step.