Alive in Those Moments

Today I am grateful for laughter and smiles and how they warm the heart and soul. I am also grateful for clean drinking water.

A recent quote on www.gratefulness.org's "Word of the Day" was from author and playwright Thornton Wilder:

"We can only be said to be fully alive in those moments when our hearts 

are conscious of our treasures."

Fully alive. Living life fully. That is what I aspire to each day. That doesn't mean full steam ahead, 110% of the time. It means being fully present as the day unfolds. At times, that is a slow pace or a pause. At other times it is a more rapid pace of thoughts and/or actions. Fully alive means appreciating the different pacings of the different tasks of the day.

Sadly, I see people who appear to be caught n the "110% all the time" and the misperception that being busy equates with living life fully. They look and sound exhausted and frazzled. I recognize them because that is me a times. Gratitude practice has taught me, slowly and steadily, to go with the day, not try to make the day go with me.

For me, it's only through gratitude practice that my heart becomes conscious of the treasures that abound. To be fully alive in more moments today, I will consciously pause in gratefulness. I encourage you to give it a try too. Have a good day, have some treasured moments.