There is No Present Like the Time

I know it’s a cliché but have you ever seen anything so beautiful it took your breath away?

Former National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones invited me to a private workshop he was conducting with Charles Needles and Jack Davis at Monet's Garden.

I said an immediate YES to this extraordinary opportunity to experience the gardens early in the morning before they were open to the public.

We began our day in a perfect way with a fresh croissant and French-pressed coffee.

Then, we strolled down the quaint, historic streets of Giverny to meet the head gardener at the green door. (Yes those are the directions.)

He opened the door precisely at 7 am and ushered us into a little piece of Heaven on Earth.

The other members of our group started snapping photos of the neatly-ordered rows of irises, roses, peonies, every type of flower imaginable.

Me? Well, I had a date with a lily pond.

Dewitt said "Follow me," and led me through an underground tunnel to a secluded oasis on the other side of the road.

We walked along a stream through a dense bamboo forest, rounded the corner. and there was the famous green-arch bridge framed by deep-green weeping willows.

My eyes drank in palettes of pink, lilac, fuchsia.

It was a living, breathing offering of Nature's abundance.

This was the opposite of the perfectly manicured, tightly clipped hedges, pruned bushes, and controlled design on the other side of the road.

This was, as Dewitt put it, profusion.

I was intrigued with his just-right word and looked it up.

Profusion is defined as "extravagant, a lavish display."

That’s exactly what was spread out in front of us and on all sides of us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The earth laughs in flowers."

I found myself laughing out loud, not because anything was funny, but because I was filled with sheer joy at what I was seeing.

Nature's beauty pulled me in. I drank it in, filled with a timeless sense of wonder.

The trees were teeming with the coos and calls of birds. Vibrant color everywhere.

It was alive. I was alive. I was immeasurably grateful for both.

Why was that experience so memorable?

Because many of us think we'll be happy when, after, as soon as, someday.

We'll be happy when we get this project done, after we get that raise, as soon as we lose those 10 pounds, one day when we find the love of our life.

Please understand, if we’re not happy here, we won’t be happy there.

We can be happier anytime we want by realizing we have already found the love of our life - the moment we love our life.

As we head into the holidays, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all our to-do’s, to start rushing through our days.

Let’s agree to do the opposite of that.

Let’s agree to adopt the mantra, "Don’t hurry, be happy."

Let’s agree to see the beauty all around us that is waiting for us to see it, experience it, appreciate it.

If you live in a temperate climate, Nature's abundance is right outside your front door and window, in the plants, grass, and trees, in the expansive blue sky and ever-changing clouds.

If you live in a frigid climate, buy some flowers next time you're at the store that catch your eye and that catalyze your awe.

Display those flowers throughout the house so you’ll see them throughout the day.

They will infuse you with beauty and remind you what a gift each and every blessed day is.

Jazz singer Colette said "What a wonderful life I’ve had, I only wish I’d realized it sooner."

It's time to realize it's a wonderful life every day we're alive.

If you ever feel "The hurried I go, the behinder I get," remember, "There’s no present like the time - and no time like the present" to get out of our head and calm to our senses.

The happiness we seek is available anytime we want... for a moment's NOTICE.

(This is part 3 of Sam's Don't Hurry, Be Happy series. Want to read Part 1? Here ya go.