Vive 'nel Momento

As we enter the final days before Christmas, Channukah, the Holidays and then the New Year, my hope is that you find enough space to be reminded of what is important to you.? I often experience those times wrapped in small MOMENTS that if not paying attention, I may miss.? This is the time of year I try to simply live in the MOMENT.?

Allowing ourselves to be fully present can unveil the beauty in sights, sounds, and wonder that when we’re stressing about whatever comes next, can cease to exist.

Below are a few paragraphs from a Final Thought I first sent in 2020.? Some of you may remember Vive ‘nel momento as an Italian phrase that I’ve used often enough to now hear it from my kids.? It’s a good reminder, especially in the days ahead.?? ????

The innocence of a child at play fascinates me.? Well…maybe it hasn’t always created intrigue.? As a kid I didn’t understand much of what life had in store.? In my later years, while I gravitate to the innocence of a younger nephew or my own children, I didn’t understand why.? As years pass and I experience more, I am amazed how simplicity can strike deep with meaning.? Simplicity like the laughter of a child. ????????

In a seemingly insignificant MOMENT, magic can surround us. The MOMENT can emit joy, nostalgia, and life into our atmosphere—especially when we find ourself present.? When you stop to experience your world—the one you operate in, every day, the one you may not observe enough—you may find exactly what you’ve been missing.?? A world of busy adults focused on the next accomplishment can fail to see it.?? There is still something to be said about living void of reservation, without biases we’ve developed, living in the MOMENT, living like a child.??

When do you stop long enough to drink in your MOMENTS of life??

Are you too focused on whatever comes next or whatever you have to do next to the extent you allow life’s MOMENTS to pass?? I think life can present us with this wisdom if we slow down long enough.?? We don’t have to force special MOMENTS.? We simply need to witness them.? And to witness, we need to be willing to pause.

Have you ever been driving at dusk, the perfect song comes on, and you’re mesmerized by how the sun’s rays break through scattered green of a tree’s leaves?? Or better, it happens during Fall’s transition and those same leaves range from vivid gold to pale red.?? A bit utopian, no doubt, but those MOMENTS feel as if they were meant for us…and us alone.? However, you must pay attention, otherwise small events become the missed backdrop when they should be the front and center scene.

MOMENTS ?will happen as part of our journey.? This is the time of year where that deep breath, your exhale, your attention to what is immediately in your midst, can be the reminder we all need.? What is tougher, is carrying these lessons throughout the year when we get back into all the responsibility, striving for success, or struggle for our attention.? Stop now, while you can, and live in the MOMENT.?? ?

As we close the year, I challenge us all to be present at some time.? Create space.? Don’t add or allow unnecessary stress.? Be still.? Bear witness to a MOMENT in your life.? I hope you will allow yourself to pause.? I hope we become aware of ?the simple, even if amidst the chaos.? Take in at least one MOMENT that will forever be a part of life. ??Allow that MOMENT to be a reminder of what you cherish. ?

As we say in Italian, “Vivi ‘nel MOMENTO.”???

Happy Holidays.? Merry Christmas.? Happy New Year.?

I hope you have a few MOMENTS that remind you what is truly important in your world.?? This year, I am certain you’ve earned them.