Living in the Moment

Earlier this month my daughter celebrated her twenty second birthday, which flipped my internal nostalgic switch. I suddenly found myself in a DeLorean, speeding towards the past. (more nostalgia, but hey I’m an eighties teen). It was a road trip filled with mile markers of toothless smiles, a series of firsts, and family funniness.

For me, birthdays are a time of reflection. But in our impulsive driven society, reflection is nothing but a means to see how good we look... or don’t. Let’s face it we are in a society that is constantly waiting for the next big thing. And in the process of doing so, we miss out on the here and now. We miss out on simply being in the moment.

Too many of us suffer from "couldn’t-wait to" syndrome....couldn’t wait to turn 18 (like it’s some magical number that catapults you into adulthood), couldn’t wait to leave home, couldn’t wait to get married, couldn’t wait to have a baby, couldn’t wait for the baby to be out of diapers, couldn’t wait for the baby to walk; just plain couldn’t wait to get out of one stage of life to enter another; STOP! What’s the rush? Time definitely doesn’t need our help. Take time to relish the moments that we have now, once it's gone you can never get them back so...enjoy!

Here are simple ways to live in the moment:

• Focus on the here and now. Be aware of your surroundings. Use your senses: look, listen, smell, touch. This world is constantly changing, so take the time to notice the positives.

• Pay attention to the people around you. Appreciate your child(ren) and where they are in life. Before you know it there twenty-two talking about getting piano keys tattooed on the inside of their forearm.

• Meditate on the goodness of the Lord. To paraphrase Psalm 37:23; every step of a righteous man is ordered by the Lord. You may not be where you want to be in life, but in the time appointed you shall.

• Develop “me” time. Listen to music, get your hair done, put the kids to bed early, take a bubble bath, read, cook something special for yourself, just do you.

• Laugh

Remember James 4:14... For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Don’t let life pass you by, looking for the next moment. Simply live in it.