I remember back when I was a student at the University of Florida, I was introduced for the first time to the concept of “living in the now”. A friend had invited me to go hear a lecture by Baba Ram Das, the author of Be Here Now.
The lecture was intriguing, to say the least. It had a huge impact on my way of thinking… my way of being.
The concept was simple and empowering… the ideology of being able to live in the present, to savor each and every moment; to truly enjoy being who we are and where we are; and what we are doing… right now!
Wow, that was so powerful!
But it was not that easy. After all, I had been told that I had to plan for the future. I was taught that I had to worry about the consequences of things that could go wrong. It seemed that everything in our society, in our culture, was completely opposite of living in the ‘now’.
Ask yourself… When was the last time you chose to sit and watch a sunrise or a sunset? When was the last time you watched the flow of a stream or the flight of a butterfly; or simply took in the beauty of a rain shower? When was the last time you stopped to enjoy all the miracles of life that you are surrounded by?
When was the last time you held your partners hand and the rest of the world seemed to disappear?
Carpe Diem…Seize the day !
I remember speaking with a friend of mine that just had his cancerous thyroid removed and he was waiting for the prognosis from his doctor. During our conversation he said to me, “I never realized how blue the sky was.”
His comment made me pause and reflect on how many things we take for granted. We are so busy regretting the past or worrying about the future that we don’t make time to appreciate the present.
If you watch young children playing, you will realize that they are totally living in the now. They aren’t worried about the past or the future; they are too busy enjoying the NOW.
We, were those children. Those children are still inside us. We just need to keep the child inside us alive. We need to live in the now.
We need to see how blue the sky really is!!!
Open your eyes. Open your ears. Open your heart! Seize the day… seize the moment!
Try this little exercise…
Anytime someone asks you, “What time is it?”. Look down at your watch… look them in the eye… and say, “NOW”.
Remember… Every day is a gift, and the quality of your life is your gift to yourself