My wife and I welcomed our son in June! He said he’s happy to be here.

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One thing I didn’t expect to love about my baby is his natural ability to keep me in the present moment. I’ve spent years trying meditation apps and practicing yoga hoping to achieve this with more consistency, but none of this compares to how my baby boy can keep my grounded and mindful in the present. And for that I already owe him!

Most mornings, I wake up with my son and a bottle of milk, and we go downstairs to let mama get a little more sleep. Dawn is peaceful in our little corner of Puerto Rico. The birds sing, roosters cry, light rain sometimes kisses the earth, and soon the sun peeks over the hill to the east.

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Together, my son and I walk around our yard and say good morning to any plants and animals we see along the way. (Usually our dog Pepa wants to sleep more and lies down by the front door. I think she’s been feeling the lack of sleep too.)

All of these sensations — the sounds and sights and humidity and the feeling of being held while I walk — are completely foreign and new to my little boy, whose rapidly developing brain tries desperately to keep up with the bombardment of sensory input. Inside the house, we listen to music. I sing to him. We look at paintings and pictures on the walls. I let him smell fresh coffee. We dance. I practice speaking Spanish to him. And he looks out the window.

While I try to be present during every moment, I only succeed maybe 10% of the time. Baby boy, though, is always in the present; he has no worries about the future, nor concerns about his past. He’s constantly living in the here and now and soaking it all up.

As I mentioned, I’ve been trying to meditate for years. I’ve tried several apps (Headspace, Calm, Insight Timer), as well as streaming meditations on YouTube and Spotify. Meditation is hard. I find “focusing on my breath” difficult and boring, and my mind wanders. I found mild success among ample failures and eventually gave up on each of the apps until I found an app that I love. It’s called Waking Up.²

A big lesson I learned from Waking Up is that meditation isn’t just something you do for 5 or 10 minutes a day. Rather, every moment in your day can be one of meditation.³ Being able to “wake up” from the constant droning of thoughts and be in the present has become the closest thing I have to a superpower.

Sure, this not much of a power compared to superheroes, but if it’s enough for me to savor these precious moments with my little boy, I am grateful. It’s made these mornings feel sacred.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to change a diaper.

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1. My wife and I joke that anything that doesn’t cause our baby to cry means he loves it or is obsessed with it. For example, I played him a Fleetwood Mac song and he sat quietly and listened to it. In other words, he loves Fleetwood Mac.
2. I have a referral link that gives you a free 30-day trial of the app, no credit card required. If you’ve tried meditating before and not found success, I’d highly recommend this app! Here is the link: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/SC837FB81
3. To be honest, I’m still not clear on the difference between meditation and mindfulness but it’s something I intend to explore!