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| At one time or another, we have all said, “What just happened?” or “I don’t recall, I wasn’t paying attention”. More and more these days I am noticing that we have lost the ability to be truly present in our lives. So distracted by noise and the busyness of this world. Missing the beauty of the ordinary moments, let alone the significant ones. Why are we letting life run US? Truly important things are losing rank of being on top, put first, number ONE. Things, and people, and times that are the very parts of our lives intended to bring us the peace, joy, and happiness we desire. The parts that make our lives WORTHWHILE! This is a serious problem! Can we ask ourselves some real questions? What are we spending our time thinking about? What occupies our thoughts at any given moment? Are we stressing out about all the stuff we need to do between now and then? Are we still dwelling on the past? Are we even aware we are doing this? Do we realize this is a COMPLETE waste of precious time and energy? Let’s address social media for one minute. Yes, there are good and helpful parts to it, but overall, it’s a battle for our attention, our present mindfulness. It’s an assault on the human person, on our human nature. We are being trained to seek the dopamine hits, ON PURPOSE! Robbing us of what’s really important in our lives. That which is revealed to us when we are truly PRESENT. Hindering our ability to appreciate the things that give us real peace, joy, and happiness. Can you feel it? We were not created for this!. For the temporary highs and the inevitable lows that follow. Left with the dreaded void, compelling us to seek another hit. Anything to avoid the discomfort. No! We were actually created for communion with others. Being present for connection and relationship with ourselves and with others. All meant to provide us LASTING fulfillment, not leave us feeling empty. Is this reason enough to strive to live a little differently from the norm? To be present in OUR lives? To swim against the current of what culture is trying to do to us, so contrary to our human nature? This will require some work on our part, putting into practice self-discipline for the benefit of our personal well-being. More than just awareness. Actually being present in our lives. Which is harder than what we’ve likely been doing, going through the motions, doing what’s easy, totally unaware. Like anything worthwhile, change comes with challenges. The humility in knowing that we will be wildly imperfect at it, the constant readjustments, the discomfort. But our personal well-being is at stake, so we must persevere! Over time it will become quite a natural habit to resist the norms, take responsibility for ourselves, be present in our own lives. Believe it or not, there is freedom there. Imagine the freedom! How do we know we are being present? We know it when we’re fully engaged in whatever we’re doing without being distracted by thoughts of the future or the past. We experience a sense of awareness and connection to the present moment. Bringing heightened clarity and a sense of peace. What being present give us (let this sink in): –Being present reduces stress. We’re in the moment, seeing what WILL happen. Taking the weight off of the past and the future. All we know and all we have is the present moment! –Being present improves relationships. We are actually listening, affirming others, showing them they are worth our time. Others feel valued by us. Something special happens when we create space for another. Something very special! –Being present gives us better focus. Less noise, for increased creativity and efficiency. We actually GET STUFF DONE! And probably in the most creative, meaningful, and fulfilling ways. –Being present gives us overall fulfillment. Guaranteed! I’ve experienced it! Over and over and over again! Try it! It’s amazing! How do we do it? *By cultivating an intentional mindset of presence, dedicating time for prayer, mediation, or breathing exercises. Maybe we make a habit of checking in with ourselves, mind, body and spirit, while doing a quiet task like folding laundry, cleaning dishes or making the bed. **By assessing what level of awareness we have? Are we scattered? Trying to multi-task (which is not a real thing and an article for another day)? Or are we connecting to ourselves, what we are doing, and to others around us? ***By starting each day with some amount of gratitude, and then doing the hardest thing FIRST. Lifting that burden off of us, creating space for the rest of the day without further thought of it. Lately, I have been super intentional about living in the moment. I find it quite refreshing and truly exciting! It’s like an adventure! Like I’m a trusting kid again! Because we don’t know what the future holds for us in the next week, day, hour, or minute. We don’t know what ordered steps have yet to unfold for us. Sure, we plan and we think we know what’s going to happen next, and we might be right about some of it. But let’s not lose sight that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! Anything is possible because <NEWSFLASH> we are NOT in control! We constantly try to be, and we think we are, but the reality is, we control very little. VERY. LITTLE. And the tighter we hold on to these things we cannot control, the more we miss out on what is truly meant for us. So LET GO…and be present! |