Take time just to be

This morning I spent a good half hour in my garden, with nothing to do but focus on the present moment. I suppose one could say I was communing with the flowers, and that would be true, but it was more than that. I was thoroughly enjoying the riot of color a summer garden brings along with all the lovely smells, and best of all, in those moments I wasn’t thinking about anything else! No thoughts of the past interrupted my joy and no worries of future calamities claimed space in my head.

    In essence, I was fully present in the moment and it was a lovely, grounded feeling. I have discovered that when I am able to stay in the present, I feel more calm and relaxed, and happy. Even though there are certainly still things in my life that are far from perfect, in those moments, those issues or situations don’t seem as important and aren’t taking up space in my head.

    When we are upset and worried, our thoughts become preoccupied with some bothersome incident, or we could be fretting over something over which we have little or no control. In actuality, we have no control over anything except perhaps the present moment when we can make choices. In theory, we can choose what we want to focus on, and more often than not, those thoughts can be things that can’t be changed, situations that haven’t happened yet, or whatever happens to be going on in the present moment, which hopefully we can enjoy and make the most of.

    Of course, like most of us, I seldom have the luxury of taking a block of time out of my day for the simple goal of enjoying the here and now. But I have found that it helps to take a few moments each day, better yet, several times a day if possible, to just stop and be. That process alone really helps me to keep a positive frame of mind. When you stop and think about it, it is a very simple practice, not to do anything other than be aware of the wonders and abundance around you in that given moment.

  How wonderful to be able to take the opportunity to be happy for the fact that you are alive and breathing and that the people you care about are doing the same. So, I hope you will take a few moments today just enjoying being. Try it and see how your feel!