staying present

It's easy to project, imagine, go back in our minds before anything happened, worry and what if ourselves silly. After all, there is so much to worry about, so much stress, our bodies aren't right at all (at least mine isn't) and the list goes on.

How much we miss if we aren't present for what is actually happening now. Today. This hour. This minute.

Did you laugh today? Crack a real, genuine smile? Say something heartfelt eye-to-eye? Sit outside and enjoy the breeze?

I felt pretty crappy this morning. All aches and stiffness all over. Knees giving out. Wrists not moving well. Numbness. Bad start. But I am not willing to give up this day to it. I read what inspires me, sitting on my patio, sun wind chimes ringing and my struggling garden and dogs enjoying the breeze while the sky was blue.

I talked with my son, too. Eye to eye. About nothing really. Just nice conversation that we were invested in, not multitasking during. I'm not saying you can't cook dinner and talk to your loved ones genuinely. I mean, put down the phone, laptop, et cetera and be.

Work was everything to me, but my children got to be a part of that. I keep my loved and dear ones near to me when I can. Of course, that's not always my choice and I have roll with those things, too.

Today is a lovely day to be alive regardless of anything. But I have to make it that way by reading affirmations (see Sark's Living Juicy Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul pictured). I read from many sources, some just bits and pieces here and there, but I keep them available to me so when I'm low I can fill myself up with the good stuff.

Here are some wonderful quotes from Stephen Mitchell's The Essence of Wisdom (pictured):

"A single atom of sweetness of wisdom in a man's heart is better than a thousand pavilions in Paradise." Abu Yazid a-Bistami (Page 53)

"Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity." Lao-tzu (Page 40)

"It is proper to doubt. Do not be led by holy scriptures, or by mere logic or inference, or by appearances, or by the authority of religious teachers. But when you realize that something is unwholeseome and bad for you, give it up. And when you realize that something is wholesome and good for you, do it." The Buddha (Page 11)

So presently I am going to make a gratitude list and thank a few people before I go back to my tea and an inspirational book. It's a great day, like, well, all of them.

peace and love,

sunee