(You caught me) Off Guard
Have you ever said that? I have, and I hear others saying the same. But what does it mean? When am I “on guard.”? And what does “on guard” mean?
It seems to me that being on guard means being present to current reality. Not engaged by thoughts, feelings, or sensations of the past or future. And not talking to myself in the present. When I really examine my experience, I’m forced to come to the conclusion that I’m rarely, if ever, on guard.
So, in a way, to say “You caught me off guard” is to say, “I wasn’t here in this physical reality, with my functions of sensing, feeling, and thinking, open to the immediate. I was previously engaged, and not by choice, just by, mostly, the happenstance of associative functioning.”
This leads to a very important question, Can I see that I’m “not on guard?” Which can lead to other equally important questions, such as, What takes my attention? And How can I be present?
Examine your experience the next time you hear either yourself or someone else say “You caught me off guard”.
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