Yesterday my family and I spent the day in a small, quaint town. While there we walked the streets, window-shopped, admired old brick buildings, and read on the town’s engagement in the Civil War. We stopped in a teashop, a local coffeehouse and walked the canal.
The whole while my 11 year old talked and talked and talked. She went on and on about how she was going to enjoy this trip to this town. She went on about how she would see sights and visit shops. This narration was taking place right as we were DOING the very things she was mentioning. But she was so engrossed in her future planning of what we would do that she was missing THE opportunity to bask in the PRESENT moment of us DOING IT. I reminded her to LIVE in the moment.
But that’s where most people live in their minds. They’ve hitched a ride with Marty McFly and jumped into the DeLorean. Most have gone into the future and have stayed there. Or they’ve taken a trip to the past and have gotten comfortable there. All the while missing all that abounds in THIS PRESENT MOMENT.
Oh the JOY that is available to us here in this present moment. Neither future nor past are greater than NOW. Be present to live in the moment.
Now is reality. The past is a memory and the future an imagination, but the present is where LIFE happens.
While there are benefits to reflecting on the past in that it can fill us with warm memories and allow us to learn from our experiences, there is danger in living the bulk of our present existence in a time that doesn’t currently exist.
Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present. ~Roger Babson
While it is good to forecast into the future, to hope, anticipate, plan, dream, wonder and visualize, we need to ACT and action happens in the present.
After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Life is too precious to take for granted. Every inhalation and exhalation is a reason to rejoice and give thanks. By engaging our senses and focusing our attention, we can train ourselves to be present live in the moment.
Do you remember being a young child, sitting at your desk in school? At the start of the day your teacher would begin to take roll. When your name was called, you affirmed that indeed you were there by saying “Here” or “Present”. Friends God is taking attendance and He wants to know if you are here. When your name is called, how will you respond? Will you be marked absent because your attention is consumed with the past or the future?
As I sat on the bench with my family looking out onto the water, I listened to my children’s laughter, I felt the sun radiating on my skin, I admired the colors of the flowers and smiled in amazement at God’s creativity. I gave thanks for all the beauty, majesty and splendor abounding in THAT MOMENT.
This moment is all I have
This moment is divinely appointed
This moment is especially blessed
This is the NOW moment
BE PRESENT
Live in the moment
God is here!
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
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