Where are you right now, this moment? I don’t mean in what town, state, or country are you, but where are your thoughts today, as of this moment in time?
Remembering times past is well and good, in small doses, but we don’t live there any more. The past is just that–it’s gone. The future looms ahead of us, sometimes an unknown, alluring or frightening thing, but it’s not here yet. It’s good to prepare, but we don’t live there either.
We have been given the beautiful gift of today. Savor it, make the most of it, enjoy it. You know what the best part of today is? It’s the ordinary, the things we sometimes don’t stop to appreciate. It’s the taste of morning coffee, hot and bracing; it’s the sparkle in a child’s eyes, the sound of her voice, the shape of his face.
A friend calls you with exciting, happy news? Great! Rejoice with her. Someone is hurting and a heart is breaking? Maybe your presence will help ease the pain. Cry with him.
Children are born with the ability to live in the moment. A child can be entranced with the smoothness of an ordinary rock in the garden, or a butterfly in a flower, or the friendliness of a puppy. A child tends to love without reservation, to notice things that grown-ups often don’t see.
Adults sometimes get impatient with a child’s disregard for time. When my son was small, it was a slow process to go from the house to the car for a trip to town. You see, there were so many fascinating things along the way…a book that he had to take with him, an interesting bug on the lawn.
Today, a few days after Christmas, the excitement has settled down and, if we aren’t careful, the humdrums could set in. We think about the holiday that has passed, we worry about the New Year and what it will bring, and we miss the specialness of today. Relish the little things. Pause and look around. Today is a pretty neat thing, filled with gifts just waiting to be noticed. An ordinary day? No, there is no such thing. Be glad and live in this moment. It won’t come again.
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