Am I not alive to the degree I am aware of being as reflected in the environmental stimuli each passing moment presents? Am I not more self-aware, more conscious of being, more aware of my existence, when I am awake than when I am asleep and unconscious of being? Am I not also more alive when I am paying attention to the present moment, than when I am entertaining memories or projecting futures? Am I not more dead to life when I am day dreaming then when wholeheartedly focused, here and now, on what’s going on around me? If so, then life isn’t something I have, it’s something I am. Something I am more or less conscious of being, depending on the degree of conscious awareness I am able to bring to each precious moment. Thus, as paradoxical as it may seem, the more I give myself as a center of conscious attention and awareness to others the more abundant the life I will experience in and of myself.

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(OOMM Appendix I)