Be Here Now

I was on a drive today through my river canyon.  I made a conscious decision to drive in silence and let my thoughts roam where they might.  It is a peaceful beautiful drive I never tire of.

As I thought how beautiful the day was I remembered something I heard somewhere and it got me to really thinking.  I don’t remember where I heard this but I invite you to really really think about it.  

What happens to today when it becomes yesterday.

I have mentioned that statement to people numerous times and the response I usually get is something like ‘yeah right’.  I never can get anyone to actually engage in a conversation about it.  Is it that uncomfortable a subject?

So – What does happen to today when it becomes yesterday?  Well I don’t know and I don’t know anyone who does.  BUT – what it does make me think about is what can I do with my NOW.

I can make a call I have been putting off.  I can finish a project that has been sitting.  I can play with my dogs or take them to the park.  I can snuggle with my husband.  I can DO something that I will remember; something not planned but spontaneous. 

It is normal human behavior to plan – at least for most; my husband excluded. He is wonderful at just about everything else, but I do all the planning.  It is my specialty anyway so why not? I am totally guilty of being a planner. 

We want to know what is going to happen tomorrow, next week or next month.  So, we plan and assume that what we expect will happen.  But it doesn’t always work that way.

I heard a story today about 16 – yes 16 accidents on the same stretch of highway I used to travel every day, and many of the people involved are on the other side now.  Did they expect to have a tomorrow? Most likely.  I am sure their families were expecting them home.  Now those families have to adjust to sadness, grief, and rearrange their lives. Their tomorrow will not be what they expected.

We cannot get time back.  We don’t get to choose when ours will run out.  

As we approach the Holidays in December – I invite you to choose to be present.  If you exchange gifts, be present and imagine your loved one with the gift.  Make it something meaningful.  Perhaps something you made – something you used your time for. 

Maybe offer the suggestion of giving an experience – something you can do together – something that will create a yesterday to remember, once it is gone.  

Something wonderful to hold in our memories where yesterdays really reside. 

Take this time of hustle and craziness in our Western world to sit for a moment and feel what it feels like to just be in that moment.  Hear the sounds, smell the smells.  What does your heart say?  Discover something to treasure about that moment.  Then perhaps make it two or three or 5 or 10 minutes or an hour.  

BE HERE NOW as Ram Dass wrote.  Your NOW will never be here again and there is no guarantee you will have another, so be present when you can and pay attention to those special moments when you are in the NOW and share a bit of gratitude for that.  

Gratitude brings more opportunities for Gratitude maybe more NOWs.  
​
Much love and Many blessings, Jeanette

​