Now

On January 15^th, 2011 it occurred to me that we won’t live forever.  I walked into my mother’s house and all that I heard was a doctor saying “she’s gone.”  My heart was broken into pieces and I was confused.  If you had told me that my mother was going to be taken from the world so soon, I would have never believed it.  That’s impossible.

Just like a lot of us, both men and women live with a mindset of; “I’m young and have my entire life ahead of me.”  Going through each day, focusing your energy on what happened last week or even last year.  Then switching over to what you are going to do tomorrow or plans for Christmas.   Forgetting all about living in the now.  This prevents you from putting true value on spending quality time with one another. Always worrying about days not yet lived.  Some of us may have spent more time worrying about fighting with the women in our lives, then loving the woman that gave us life. 

REALITY CHECK.  Ask yourself this question, if your doctor told you tomorrow that you have 6 months to live; how much more would you worry about all the decisions you made in your past?  Would you be worried about how much money you were going to have in the future?  How hot you think the guy or girl next to you thinks you are?  Or would it be noticing how the clouds in the sky look or the flowers smell?  Or would every day be a gift and a blessing that would allow you to live in the now?  Who would you choose to share the most memorable moments with?

“Mom I miss you. I now see why you called me every day in those last few months.  I know why you always smiled more, laughed harder and loved as if it was your last days.  Because they were.”  We should all encourage each other to practice living in the now and to love each day like it’s your last.  Don’t give all your energy to what is going to happen tomorrow or what happened yesterday.  Be mindful of how you are feeling, what you taste and smell and the sounds around you and be selective on who you choose to share those moments with. Try to absorb what is happening right now.

“Nothing ever happened the past, it happened in the now.  Nothing will ever happen in the future, it will happen in the now.” – Eckhart Tolle

Sometimes you never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.