The Preciousness of Now
Appreciating the Present Moment Can Help Us Live with More Peace, Gratitude, and Ease
Everything is changing—all the time. Sometimes, the change is taking place so slowly that we don’t notice it. But it is happening all the same. “Here today, gone tomorrow” is a phrase we all use, but don’t usually fully feel the truth of it, or recognize how awareness of it can help us to thrive more each day.
The perfect symbol of this transience is a gardenia. The plant’ s blooming period is for only a certain length of time. And, a single flower itself, so perfectly plump and white when picked, changes almost right before our eyes. In a day or so it becomes yellow and then brown. There is nothing we can do to extend the life of that flower in any significant way.
This is how it is for our life in general. If we accept and appreciate the inevitability of the endings—especially of the things we love the most—instead of it being something to continuously mourn or hold on to more tightly, it can be an opportunity or an important reminder to focus on what has the most meaning for us this moment, and that makes space to put our energy into that, so that there is no regret when in inevitable ending occurs.
Believe me, I know that it is not easy.
It requires developing so much appreciation for What Is, right now, that we can lean on it when What Is isn’t any longer. You will know you showed up fully for what mattered. And that becomes a kind of quiet peace within you.
Living with full appreciation for what you have (no ‘yes, but ’!) enriches every moment of your experience.
No one wants the “good times” to end. But just as everything ends, so do new things arise.
Letting go of what cannot be held on to, leaves space for the appearance of all that comes next, and reduces the stress on the nervous system.
Facing the next and the next from an open space— here/now—and with less resistance, more curiosity, and an open heart will ease the experience of living.
This is what thriving means.
If you’d like support learning to move through change with more peace, clarity, and appreciation for life, I offer a free 20-minute introductory conversation by phone.
