Fully PRESENT
Living gratefully today, I notice the smell and taste of some seasonal eggnog and the feel of coolness on my skin after a workout.
I have a couple other "P" words in line for posts for my A-Z list, but this morning the word that is speaking to me is PRESENT. Being right here, right now. Staying in the moment. Focusing on my breathing, in and out, inhale, exhale. Checking into thoughts and feelings without latching on to either. Just acknowledging.
Readers, there's a reason this topic of presence, attending to now, keeps showing up here. To continue writing about it, really writing of any kind, is action that brings me fully into the current time.
Being fully present is simple, but not easy. It is an ongoing challenge for me, but a challenge that I embrace and keep working on. It matters. A ton. As Dr. Shauna Shapiro heard from a monk when she needed, and was ready, to hear: "What we practice grows stronger."
Practice presence and it comes more naturally. It comes more often than it used to. I don't walk around all day fully present. I don't know anyone who does. (Though it's not for me to gauge someone else's level of presence. That would only take away from my own.) I aspire to more moments of being fully awake, as Brother David Steindl-Rast describes it.
Today's "Word for the Day" from gratefulness.org fits the theme for today as well:
I have a couple other "P" words in line for posts for my A-Z list, but this morning the word that is speaking to me is PRESENT. Being right here, right now. Staying in the moment. Focusing on my breathing, in and out, inhale, exhale. Checking into thoughts and feelings without latching on to either. Just acknowledging.
Readers, there's a reason this topic of presence, attending to now, keeps showing up here. To continue writing about it, really writing of any kind, is action that brings me fully into the current time.
Being fully present is simple, but not easy. It is an ongoing challenge for me, but a challenge that I embrace and keep working on. It matters. A ton. As Dr. Shauna Shapiro heard from a monk when she needed, and was ready, to hear: "What we practice grows stronger."
Practice presence and it comes more naturally. It comes more often than it used to. I don't walk around all day fully present. I don't know anyone who does. (Though it's not for me to gauge someone else's level of presence. That would only take away from my own.) I aspire to more moments of being fully awake, as Brother David Steindl-Rast describes it.
Today's "Word for the Day" from gratefulness.org fits the theme for today as well:
"We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present."
(Marianne Williamson)
Give the gift of presence to yourself and others in this holiday season, and any average day too.
There are three people I mentioned and/or quoted above. I know none of them personally, but they have each helped me face the challenge of being fully present. Consider looking at their work and words if you are looking for similar help.
Have a good day, starting in this moment. Then the next, the next . . . each of them precious blessings.
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