Oct 14, 2026 · 31 min · 10 segments
In a world full of distractions, being fully present with the people who matter most has become increasingly difficult and increasingly important. In this episode, Drs. Milt Lowder and Drew Brannon…
Milt LowderHost
Drew BrannonHost
And so today's conversation, Drew, we were talking about a podcast topic, and I recorded one with Emerson, our youngest daughter, who we dropped off at Clemson a couple years ago, and I said, "Hey, what, what was the challenge o- of being, you know, what, what was some feedback you would give me?" Or whatever the framework was for the question.
I don't think you were really present at times." And as hard as that is to hear, there's some truth in that, that I kind of fell into a habit of I would come home, she had kind of already done her thing, she was with her mom, and I would kind of, kind of get into my rhythm of checking emails or doing some work or get on my iPad or hanging out with the dog and not really giving her maybe my full attention, not being fully present mentally and physically and emotionally, uh, with her in that moment.
And so that's, that's the topic for today, the power of being present, the cost of not being present, and what can we do in busy lives, uh, demanding jobs, a lot of distraction.
Yeah, I mean, I, I certainly appreciate you raising this topic, and I think that if, you know, we don't...
We tend not to make real dir- too many kind of, I guess you'd say direct statements on the Growth Project.
But I would say for our listeners, if you aren't trying to figure this out, you should be.
Because, um, very few people these days, I think, are really doing a great job practicing what it means to truly be present, as opposed to being distracted by a million possibilities, right? There's no shortage of things that you can give your attention to, um, instead of the conversation that's in front of you, the persons in front of you, et cetera.
Yeah, and I think it's easy to kind of blame technology that, that it, these, all these distracting things that are really supposed to connect us create further separation between us.
But we're not only talking about the physical distraction of what are you looking to, what are you paying attention to.
What are the stressors I've experienced through the day that I haven't dealt with, that I haven't disengaged from that are in the back of my mind that, that doesn't allow me to really listen to the conversation or follow along or really let that person know that I value them more than anything else in the world?
But, but what I'm thinking in my mind is that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "When a man's lips say one thing and his eyes another, a clever man pays attention to the latter." And so the power of being fully present, that I'm hearing what you're saying, I'm feeling what you're feeling, and, and I'm taking that to heart that you really matter, that's a little what we're talking about the power of being present.
Yeah, and I think it's important to say, too, even at the outset, that, um, it's really easy to end up in this place and yet have really good intentions.
Like, I think there's plenty of people who don't even realize that they are, um, lacking some of this, lacking presence.
And so today's conversation, Drew, we were talking about a podcast topic, and I recorded one with Emerson, our youngest daughter, who we dropped off at Clemson a couple years ago, and I said, "Hey, what, what was the challenge o- of being, you know, what, what was some feedback you would give me?" Or whatever the framework was for the question.
I don't think you were really present at times." And as hard as that is to hear, there's some truth in that, that I kind of fell into a habit of I would come home, she had kind of already done her thing, she was with her mom, and I would kind of, kind of get into my rhythm of checking emails or doing some work or get on my iPad or hanging out with the dog and not really giving her maybe my full attention, not being fully present mentally and physically and emotionally, uh, with her in that moment.
And so that's, that's the topic for today, the power of being present, the cost of not being present, and what can we do in busy lives, uh, demanding jobs, a lot of distraction.
Yeah, I mean, I, I certainly appreciate you raising this topic, and I think that if, you know, we don't...
We tend not to make real dir- too many kind of, I guess you'd say direct statements on the Growth Project.
But I would say for our listeners, if you aren't trying to figure this out, you should be.
Because, um, very few people these days, I think, are really doing a great job practicing what it means to truly be present, as opposed to being distracted by a million possibilities, right? There's no shortage of things that you can give your attention to, um, instead of the conversation that's in front of you, the persons in front of you, et cetera.
Yeah, and I think it's easy to kind of blame technology that, that it, these, all these distracting things that are really supposed to connect us create further separation between us.
But we're not only talking about the physical distraction of what are you looking to, what are you paying attention to.
What are the stressors I've experienced through the day that I haven't dealt with, that I haven't disengaged from that are in the back of my mind that, that doesn't allow me to really listen to the conversation or follow along or really let that person know that I value them more than anything else in the world?
But, but what I'm thinking in my mind is that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "When a man's lips say one thing and his eyes another, a clever man pays attention to the latter." And so the power of being fully present, that I'm hearing what you're saying, I'm feeling what you're feeling, and, and I'm taking that to heart that you really matter, that's a little what we're talking about the power of being present.
Yeah, and I think it's important to say, too, even at the outset, that, um, it's really easy to end up in this place and yet have really good intentions.
Like, I think there's plenty of people who don't even realize that they are, um, lacking some of this, lacking presence.
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