Chris and I have done a tremendous amount of travelling in the past year, and reflecting on it, has served as a catalyst for this episode. We spend our lives seeking, the next best thing, always pursuing something other than what is in this moment.  It’s as if we are programmed to look to the future, to a new job, to our next vacation, to the new car, to summer break, to a different relationship.  We are programmed to think somehow that we will be happy when we have achieved, acquired, arrived.  But what we are really looking for, in some ways, is nothing more than the next dopamine hit.  Happiness is not something that exists outside of us but rather something we cultivate in every moment.  The truth is, we can travel across the world and adventure till our hearts content but wherever we go, there we are.   We cannot escape ourselves because being fully alive means being with ourselves in every moment and learning how to turn toward what is, with all our attention.  Wisdom lies in recognizing that life can be full of adventure and novelty, but true contentment lives in the pause between breaths and the presence we bring to everything including and maybe especially the mundane.