In a way, nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small, we haven't the time —
and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. ~ Georgia O'Keefe
Life constantly attempts to teach us to pay attention, but as we grow into adulthood, we tend to cultivate various habits of distraction. It often takes the gravity of serious illness or grief to wake us up. However, there are practical skills we can learn which allow us to pay closer attention while pushing and pulling less on what we encounter.
Mindfulness meditation is not a means of escaping from life, but a strategy for engaging more directly with it. Just as physical exercise increases strength, flexibility, and endurance to support the activities of our lives, mindfulness meditation develops concentration, sensory clarity, and a greater openness to embrace whatever happens in the present.
Directly encountering the obstacles to waking up to our lives, instead of overwhelming us, begins to nurture compassion in us as we realize more clearly the nature of suffering which we all have in common.