I just love when I am able to stop and really be in the moment even if that moment is something as simple as my little boy peaking at me through his cap. My son Sam is a talker and it is near impossible to just say oh ya, really and not actually pay attention. I think this is a gift because he really wants what all kids want - someone to stop and be in the moment, to listen and be actively engaged in the discussion.
Yesterday I caught a few minutes of an episode of the Oprah show. She was interviewing a lady who had discovered at the end of the day that she had left her 2 year old daughter in her car. The little girl died from heat exhaustion and the women was devastated. I think Oprah invited her on the show to talk about how this can happen to anyone when they are not paying attention to NOW. It is hard to imagine that happening but I think we all have had moments when we have gone from point A to point B and wondered how we got there. I think as Moms we have so much going that we try to do all and take on too much and try to be it all to so many people that we fail to stop and enjoy the life we have now because we are working on the life we will have when we get it all done. Oprah made a comment near the end of the show that I think we all need to ask ourselves daily -are we in the moment or are we getting to the moment. We know that we will eventually get there so why not just stop focusing on when and enjoy now!
This whole living NOW has come to me in so many ways this past few weeks. At a recent ladies evening I listened to a poem I have heard more than once but it really got to me on that evening, it is called The Dash. My husband read it at his father’s funeral and just last week a friend whose young wife passed away shared it with friends and family.
The Dash
| I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning…to the end. He noted that first came the date of her birth For that dash represents all the time For it matters not, how much we own; So think about this long and hard… If we could just slow down enough And be less quick to anger, If we treat each other with respect, So, when your eulogy is being read The poem is available in a gift book, framed print and journal from: www.lindaellis.net. |
So, this all brings me to my good friend Stacy Julian. She is an amazing women who really gets NOW. She lives a busy life like all of us but the one thing that separates her from the mom who is trying to do it all and misses out on the NOW is that she has found a balance in her giant to-do list. She asks for help and celebrates the life she has now by letting go of the less important stuff. This week Stacy’s blog focuses in on stopping and realizing your present - and what a gift that is! Because Stacy is all things memory making and scrapbooking she has put together a cool little scrapbook that celebrates her life right now and she encourages us all to stop, take some pictures and make a little book too! Even if you are not a serious scrapbooker, I think you will love this idea!
You will see in stacy’s blog this quote from an amazing little book called Organizing For the Spirit by Sunny Schlenger. I think it nicely sums up what I am saying and feeling right NOW!
When you slow down and deliberately take notice of your surroundings, you’re in the present moment, and being in the present moment brings things into sharper focus. It’s as though you’re on a nature expedition, but you’re using your binoculars to observe the details of your own life … much of our day-to-day business can be done by rote. But when we’re fully engaged, active participants in moment-by-moment creation, we’re in the state linked most closely to “living” our lives.
