Living In The Moment

Another thing that goes hand-in-hand with simple living is living intentionally in the moment.  This is a bit harder for me than simplifying my life; sometimes I get caught up with working towards my “ideal life” that I forget to enjoy the good things that are right now.

How many times have I robbed myself of today’s joy worrying about the future?  Or regretting the past? More times than I care to admit.  The fact of the matter is this:  95% of the things I worry about never come to pass! That right there should be enough incentive for me not to worry.  And what about living in the past?  What benefit comes from sitting around regretting the things I have done, or wishing to relive some good times?  While it is good to use past experiences to better ourselves, such as learning from mistakes, dwelling on and bemoaning past mistakes is futile.  Move on!

How many times did I miss my children growing up by not being intentional?  More times than I care to admit; whether it was me being so focused on myself that I didn't see them or so focused on some electronic that I didn't hear them. But if I take my advice from the paragraph above, I learn from my mistakes and move on.  Unfortunately, I can not go back and relive those years when they were little children, but I can learn from the mistakes and not make them with Remy.  I can be intentional now with my girls, even though they no longer live at home.  I can listen to them when they call or when they are home, and spend quality time with them when I do see them.

Sometimes I get all worked up about wanting my “little cabin in the woods” and “ideal life”.  I’ll spend hours on the computer researching the perfect spot. When I do, I miss the birds singing in the oak tree outside my window, the purple mountains in the distance, and the lowing of cattle down in the valley.  I miss the opportunity to sit on the rocking chair out on the porch with Chad sipping iced tea while listening to my wind chimes sway in the gentle breeze.  Maybe instead of sitting on my computer researching things that are not in the plan at this moment, I can focus on being grateful for what I have right now, at this point of my life. How many years did I want to move to a little house in the country?  Maybe I should enjoy what I have.

I leave you with a quote from Jim Elliot that sums up what I'm trying to say in this post.....