Embrace Life: Each Minute Is Amazing

How to embrace life with grace and joy should be taught in schools. To experience all that life offers is a gift, even a miracle. Yet, you can learn to embrace life fully.

“The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle.” -- Tara Brach

How to Embrace Life: Dive In

If you want to embrace life, it’s time to jump in. This time will never come again. Think about that for a moment. This minute of life is your gift, one that you should make the most of. It’s often tough to remind yourself about the miracle of life, what with everyday concerns and distractions. Yet the most common regret people have when they’re at the end of their lives is that they didn’t make the most of every moment.

Now Is All You Have

Considering that the present is all you have in life – you cannot inhabit the past or experience the future – doesn’t it make sense to cultivate an awareness and appreciation of each minute? Remarkable things happen when you accept each minute as a profound and undeniable miracle.

The Past No Longer Matters When You Embrace Life

• For one, you’re no longer so obsessed with whatever happened in the past.
• You know, for example, that those days, actions, and distressing thoughts are over.
• While you may still be making amends or paying in some way for past mistakes, they should have no claim over how you live your life today. Let the past go and embrace life.

The Future Is Brighter

• For another, you'll be less concerned with what might happen when you live in the moment, fully aware of the here and now and your opportunity to do your best in everything you do.
• On the contrary, you will feel more self-confident that your actions now will help ensure a bright and fulfilling future. Live your best life and thrive.
• At the very least, you will be laying the groundwork for handling whatever challenges come your way.

Embracing Life Also Means Coping with Pain

This minute, this miraculous gift, is something to behold, to be ever grateful for, and to savor. However, embracing life does not mean that other thoughts will no longer attempt to intrude, to pull you away from the present and into a sticky mess.

It means you’ll recognize the intrusion for what it is and reorient yourself to the present. You are in control here. Why relinquish this power to some opposing force when it’s unnecessary?

Understanding and Coping with Pain

Miraculous moments aren’t without pain at times. The birth of a child is painful, but it’s also a miracle – one that most mothers wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

• Enduring physical pain in pursuit of a challenging goal is worth going through for many athletes.
• Feeling the heartbreak of a romantic breakup is distressing. However, you are still alive and able to continue living—finding joy in another relationship or activity you’ve scarcely noticed before.
• Sometimes, it’s a miracle that you survive a catastrophic event, such as a car accident or other trauma, surgery, or disease.

At these moments, you truly realize how precious life is and how much each minute is a miracle. Why wait for something as profound as this to begin appreciating the miracle of life? Embrace life and live as though each moment is a miracle. You will be forever changed.