This is Living

A couple mornings ago, as I awakened, I repeatedly heard the phrase, "You're presence is requested..." And it raised the question, How often am I fully present to whatever is occurring in my life?

I only know that I am learning to be more so. And that awareness is hot! Mindfulness is sexy! Being present now is bliss!

And yesterday morning, as I sat on the front porch, I noticed a spider's web. The breeze rippled it and created the optical illusion of rippling water. And the question arose, How can I discover something if I created it? And the answer came, You created it so you could discover it.

This morning, as I sat on the front porch with my parents, a butterfly came and landed on my dad's shirt, flitted away, then came back and landed on his hand. It left again and returned to perch on his knee, where it lingered quite a while.

It was fun to watch this particular creature. It had quite a sense of humor. It landed on the porch in front of the cat at one point, as if to say, "Catch me, if you can". Then later, as the cat was lying on the porch, the butterfly flitted across him well within reach of his paws, and the cat did take a few swings at it, but it was too fast. Imagine a butterfly taunting a cat!

There are so many wondrous things to discover in life, if we slow down and take the time to "stand and stare".

In the words of William Henry Davies:

Leisure


What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Come on, folks! Let's take some time to stand and stare.

Most of what seems so urgent right now will be fully forgotten and completely meaningless ten years from now.

This is living. This is life. You can't live yesterday, and you can't live later. Now is all you have. If you're not living life now, as fully as you possibly can, you're missing the only opportunity you're given.

Do it! Do it now! Just do it! Better yet, BE it.