I went on a walk this morning.  My husband went to get the 2 year old a drink and he came back into our room and told me the sky looked really pretty.  He knows I love the sunrise, and so I opened the doors from our room onto the back deck and took one look at the sky and decided to go on a morning walk.

I left the house at 6:30 … so because it’s the weekend no one else was out yet and it was quiet and perfect.  As I walked toward the sunrise I just enjoyed the fresh cool air and the birds that were already up and chirping away happily and the worms that were crawling across the sidewalk, and the sun that was lighting the sky. 

Moments like these make me so grateful for life.  Moments like these seem to fill up my being with energy and they’re replenishing and just witness to the beauty that surrounds us always.

Shortly after I set out, the sun rose into the cloud cover and it started raining.  Slowly at first, just a drop here and there … one on my cheek, another on my hand, more on the puddles in the street; and as my walking continued it began raining harder … I pulled my hood over my head, tucked my ponytail in, and cinched the strings so my head was protected, and just enjoyed the moment.

The stillness of the morning, the sounds of the birds and the drip drop of the rain, the cool breeze on my face and an occasional cold wet drop on my skin … the green grass and the gray clouds and the steady beat of my heart as I quickly walked … paying attention to all of these help me feel grounded and focused on being present.

In the present moment I am free of worry, stress, and anything that isn’t right in front of me.  In the present moment there is a peace and freedom  because I am only focusing on what is now, and what is now is always manageable.  In the present moment I am able to look around me and see all that is beautiful in the now that I am experiencing … this brings a deep sense of gratitude and joy.

I have moments, frequently, that I am so present the moment feels like time doesn’t exist and it is just timeless.

The other evening my daughter and I stopped to get a quick something to eat after her high school orchestra concert.  As we both quietly ate, I was just so focused on seeing and feeling what was in front of me … the food on my plate, the daughter across from me, the sounds of the restaurant … all of it just enveloped the moment and I felt like time stopped.  I remember asking her how long we had been sitting there because it felt like forever … it was interesting, almost like once I realized and focused back on the time I was sort of “brought back” and it was a little startling. It was actually really nice to be so present.

I feel incredible peace in my life when I let go of all the things that I can’t do and change in the moment.  I can’t change the past … that is not even a possibility, so to continue lingering there only steals from what I’m doing now.  I can’t do anything in the future either … it’s not here.  It’s not now.  And so to spend all of my time wondering what it will look like, fearing what could possibly happen, or stressing over the imagined “future terrible things” my mind makes up … this steals from my now.

I lose the only moment I ever have when I focus all of my thought on anything but this moment.  If I’m stressed and worried and projecting onto a time that I can’t even change or be in … what is the point?  It does nothing for me, it only takes away from the moment that I CAN change, the present moment … my now.

And so for me, I trust that God will take care of my future moments and I know that as I focus on creating a beautiful and love filled now, I am doing my part.  I have faith in the universe and that the universe and God have “got my back.”  That is the only thing I CAN do, is trust and believe it’ll be ok, and then just live the best now that I can.

Doing this has given me freedom, it has opened up my world in a way that I didn’t imagine it could and has allowed me to enjoy what I DO have. 

I have this moment.  I can use it to expand love and to offer healing in all the ways I’m able to.  I feel gratitude for my now, because I know that it is always unchangeably the only moment I ever have, and so I choose to make the most of it and to experience it to the fullest and not lose sight of what I’ve been given … the present.  It is a gift, and so is aptly named “the present” and I choose to see it in this way.

Focus on your now … the moment that is before you.  Choose to use it to the fullest to love and to experience what is in your life and to just expand and grow in whatever way you can.  In doing this you WILL know peace … and peace is a beautiful witness to God’s presence in your life.  I am grateful to know this peace and to feel it now.