For those in a hurry
The Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh tells a wonderful story about peeling a tangerine which, for me, really sums up our failure to live in the moment.

A man was sitting peeling a tangerine. Firstly he peeled off the bright orange outer skin. The smell of the zest as he broke the skin increased his anticipation of the taste of the tangerine and how it would quench his thirst. After removing the peel he started to strip the strands of inner skin which clung to the segments. He spilt the tangerine in two and then removes one of the segments. All the while his anticipation of the taste was increasing. He then careful cleaned up the first segment and popped it in his mouth. Trouble was he then didn’t taste the segment at all!! His attention had now moved on to peeling the next segment and the anticipation of how that one would taste.

This is how many of us go through life. Not appreciating each moment because we are either anticipating the next one - or indeed regretting the last one.