This IS the Moment

Returning from the holiday break and settling into a routine, I find a renewed focus on being in the moment.  The holidays are a busy time.  On top of that, we returned from back to back vacations.  One trip we ventured Up North, in the bitter cold, the other, we traveled down south to Florida.  Vacations are a wonderful reset button, especially after a chaotic December.  I find it hard to be in the moment, when the moments pass by quickly.  If space is added to the moments, the moments can be enjoyed and appreciated.

A new year is a period in time, where we assess and reflect on our moments, either those of the past year, or the ones expected.

The moments of the past, whether we loved them, hated them, or are neutral to them, are gone.  They came, we experienced them. They are over in a flash.  The moments to come, anticipated with enthusiasm or dread, are still not here.  The only moment we have IS this moment.

In today’s ever changing world, moments speed by.  If we have a moment, we tend to fill it up by checking emails, social media, or completing a task left undone.  It is necessary to schedule a moment in order to appreciate it.  Whether it is by meditating, yoga, walking in nature, writing, music, or art, these mindful and creative tasks help us to understand that this IS the moment.  When we do this, during more hectic times, our awareness can bring us back to the this moment.  

In planning for certain activities of awareness, we give habit and space to being in the moment.  These daily exercises become routine.  This translates to finding and taking the moments of our lives as they come.
For the new year, I hope you come to realize that this IS the moment.

January 10, 2018
Susan J. McFarland