Savor the moment

"The trouble with the way we go about life is that we usually try to take on too much of it at once. Is the present moment a good one for you? Then why are you so riled up about ones yet to come? Enjoy."

I just read this as part of my inspirational morning reading today (by author Joan Chittister in Living Well). It really resonated with me, unfortunately, because I sometimes let that happen. The present is a good moment. But instead of enjoying it, I'm busy worrying about something that's coming down the pike in several days or weeks. Or fretting over something I did yesterday or last week. Why, oh why, do I do that???

My fiance and I join with two very dear friends of ours every New Year's Eve to celebrate the past year and also the possibilities ahead in the new year. We do a ritual that includes looking back at the good and bad of the past year, what we've learned, how we've grown, etc. And it gives us the opportunity to look at the year ahead and imagine what possibilities it holds as well as what resistances we might bring into that year—sharing with each other what we see. We finish the ritual by each selecting a word or very short phrase that we hope might characterize the coming year, and we each write that word on a stone. My stone sits on the end table beside my glider so I can see it daily during my quiet time. For 2012 I chose the word "savor" because of the very thing Chittister mentioned: I wanted to spend less time worrying about the past or the future and more time savoring what is right now.

Do you enjoy the present moment? Or are you too busy looking at the past or the future to enjoy life right now? It's not too late to make a change and bring your awareness to the present.