Saturday Morning Serenity: Reflecting

It’s Saturday, the weather is very warm for this time of year, and I’m reflecting on my birthday events from yesterday.  Getting older is such an interesting ‘concept’, don’t you think?  When you are a child, time goes sooooo slow when waiting for the fun stuff to arrive; you know, your birthday, holidays, the end of school (and then the long summer!).

Now, despite the fact the days are just as long as they were ‘back then’, it seems that someone has sped the clock up to a whirlwind motion.  Funny this idea of ‘time’.  It’s all in our perception.  We humans do such a great job thinking about the past, waiting for the future, but often don’t seem to get the whole ‘now’ idea.

Where is your mind at any given time?  Is it aware of what you are doing at the ‘moment’, or is it back in 5th Grade (Canadians say, “Grade 5”) reworking a social studies project.  Is your mind already worrying about next week’s work meeting and how it better go well or else?  To me, it’s as if we are living the experiences twice.  And more often than not we are focusing on the negative, worried memories (or future what ifs) than being in reality; which is right now.

So I’m thinking, hey, if at this very moment I’m sitting on the couch, coffee cup not but a mere stretch of the arm away, why is my mind revisiting a crappy occurrence at work last week?  *Cher checks her surroundings* Last time I checked (which was 3 seconds ago) I’m sitting here writing this post, not at my desk worried about an overlooked letter to send out.

It takes a concerted effort to stay focused in the present.  But it does bring a sense of calm and control, I think.  Now, that’s not to say if your hair is on fire and you are focused on it that it will bring calmness; no, it just means that in a general sense it helps us enjoy what’s going on, as opposed to what went on and what might happen.  I’m not sure why our tendency is to ruminate on past negativity, and worry about future stuff if we are nice and cozy in the present.  You know, the more I am writing about this, the more inquisitive I am getting.  Why do we do this to ourselves?

Perhaps we need to simply practice the art of the present moment.  Practicing usually makes us better at that which we want to improve.  I want to improve aligning with the, ‘here and now’, not the ‘then and future then’.

See what birthdays conjure up?  My philosophizing, slightly tired, ‘older’ self will now present to you what I think will really keep me in the now:

I know it’s a little hard to read from this angle, but it says, “Happy Birthday, to Cher-Bear!!!”.

And now, I’m in the now.

🙂