The Gift of the Present Moment

While I wait in line to gas up my car this morning, the insight comes, that to be, and live truly in the present moment is a gift...

The gift of the present moment, is that it keeps us here - not in the past, and not in the future...

The gift of the present moment, is that it makes us feel vibrantly alive...

The gift of the present moment, is that we are able to enter deeply into every emotion, and feel everything so fully...

The gift of the present moment, is that it clothes us in the freedom to dance through every challenge, and difficulty and phase of our lives...

The gift of the present moment, is that it enables us to realize and experience, that now is the only time there is...

The gift of the present moment, is that it teaches us that every second and experience discloses the Divine and is inherently sacred...

The gift of the present moment, is that there are gifts, lessons, and invaluable treasures surrounding us, if we have the eyes to see them...

The gift of the present moment, is that it enables us to accept things as they are, and not as we may want them to be...

And yet, most of the time, we are not in the present moment. We dwell in our pasts, wrapped up in our hurts, and every day we recycle the same thoughts over and over again - so it keeps us anchored in a moment that is no more...

I admire the people who can easily let go of the past, move on, and simply be in the present. Some can do this without a lot of work, but the truth is, we can all do it. We may just have to work at it a little harder...

When we are fully present, every detail is richer. Colors are more vibrant, sounds are exquisite, feelings are ecstatic in nature, and our sense of taste is overwhelmed by so many delicious choices!

When we are in the present moment, time is infinite - there is no past - and there is no future - there is only NOW! And it goes on, from one infinite moment to the next!

When we are fully present, every moment and every experience is a gift and a blessing on some level. We can see and understand - and imbibe in ways we could not do so if we were still mired in the past, or preoccupied with the future...

As often happens, so much of what I came across and posted this week, arrived to support these reflections...

"Miracles lie not in the past or the future,
but in your complete acceptance
and embrace of this moment.
It offers everything you want,
in that it offers you an opportunity
to expand fully into the totality of your real self.
That experience - the experience of being truly who we are -
is the peace we long for
and from which all miracles flow."
~ Marianne Williamson

"The whole universe is inside of you;
ask all from yourself!"
~ Rumi

"You are a microcosm
of the macrocosm."

"Do not seek to have events happen
as you would want them to.
But instead, want them to happen
as they happen,
and your life will go well."
~ Epictetus

I fill up my gas tank, and drive off, and though unrest and uprisings are spreading from one Middle Eastern country to the next, and there are demonstrations in several state capitals - despite chaos and all that seeks to pull us all out of balance, I affirm to myself, as a quiet prayer, words uttered by Julian of Norwich, who in the 14th century, amidst so much calamity, was able to exclaim, and believe, that:

"All shall be well,
and all shall be well,
and all manner of things
shall be well!"