What Happens To The Moment You Are In?

I began a new adventure this week and along with it...a new commitment. There are not too many things that I regret up to this point in my life but there is something that I regret greatly. I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to some amazing places - Tahiti, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii - and at the time, I knew I was lucky to be there. However, I also struggled with a conflict of feelings about where else I should be at the time or what else I should be doing. For many of those years, I had young children at home and being away from home left them and my husband on their own to manage daily life. So while I was grateful for the places I visited, I wasn't living in the moments that I was in. I  focused instead on what I was missing, what I should do when I got home, what were my next "to do's", and a million other thoughts that took me away from the present.

What I know now is that none of that did me any good. I was where I was and other responsibilities were where they were. And ignoring the experience that I was currently in as I concentrated on the places I was not, didn't allow me to be in both places at once but rather, I'm not sure I was fully in the place that I was in! (Wow...that just might be the most confusing sentence I've ever written but yet also one of the most honest.)

However, I'm older now (and maybe even just a tiny bit wiser) and I've grown to appreciate life in a different way. I know that I can only be in one moment at one time and at this point in my life, I have the luxury of allowing myself to focus on the present. So, as I dig into my new venture, I have made a commitment to myself - that I will do it differently this time. I will pay attention. I will appreciate the present. I will live in the moment. Not only when I travel, but to the best of my ability everyday of my life. 

Perhaps you will consider a similar commitment to yourself. In fact, you owe it to yourself. Don't look back with regret about moments that were lost. Enjoy the moments today....