Dwell in the Now
Today I would like to share this short reflection adapted from Ralph Marston on being fully alive to the beauty of the present moment.
The beauty of life is in the living of it. And the living of life is now. It is fine to make grand, wonderful plans and to then bring those plans to life through your efforts. Yet do not ignore the quiet, stunningly beautiful treasures in each ordinary moment. Happiness is not in some distant place of perfection and pleasure. Happiness is waiting for you to give it life in this moment. If all of your dreams were to suddenly come true, you would have no use for them. For the real essence of their joy is in the journey you take to reach those dreams. It is in working your way through each day, one moment after another, that you connect with the value of life. Every flavor of experience adds to the richness in one way or another. Do not put a lot of effort into judging whether today is good or bad, happy or sad. Just go ahead and live it with a thankful heart, and you will surely experience this day’s own special value.
A great reminder, just wish I could do it more often. I seem to get in my own way a lot. I am trying to remember choice, gratefulness, acceptance without judgment, and breathing. Everyday is a new day to try.
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Amen to that, my dear friend. Love you
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I agree a great reminder. I am a firm believer that true happiness is the by product of the journey. I agree completely that “Happiness is waiting for you to give it life in this moment.” That is a great quote. Excellent post, thank you for sharing!
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It is exactly what I make today, with a lot of accuracy. And you’re right : it’s more than enough :))
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Hello
As a breast cancer survivor I am currently working on something I truly love and owning my passion of cooking. Check it out and tell me what you think!
http://www.marlenesmealmakeovers.com
http://www.marlenemacpherson.blogspot.com
Best Health,
Marlene
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Thanks to all of you for your comments and Marlene, I am off now to check out your website – well done on showing us the way to live out your passion!
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loved this. just what i needed to hear
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Marie, thank you for the beautiful post. I think I am going to share this with my plant at work. No matter where we are the seconds in the day we have today will never come again. So I guess you could look at that in a good way too. If you are having a not so good day…that will be gone forever too.
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I enjoyed this post very much. Words of wisdom for us to remember each day.
My wife, before she died of metastatic leiomyosarcoma at the age of 42, expressed feelings echoed in these words of Thomas Merton: “The things I thought were so important – because of the effort I put into the – have turned out to be of small value. And the things I never thought about, the things I was never able to either measure or expect were the things that mattered.”
Philip Simmons, dying of ALS, wrote:
“I have lived long enough to discover that life is both more and less than I had hoped for. I’ve known pleasures and sorrows. Beyond these dualities I’ve glimpsed something else: the blessings shaken out of an imperfect life like fruit from a blighted tree. It is work learning to live richly in the face of loss; to be more fully alive; to know the full blessings of my imperfect life. Seek not a perfect life but a full one. The imperfect is our paradise. Let us pray then, that we do not shun the struggle. May we attend with mindfulness, generosity, and compassion to all that is broken in our lives. May we live fully in each flawed and too human moment, and thereby gain the victory.” – Phillip Simmons, Learning to Fall
Yes, dwell in the now! How fast life – the days and hours of it – is flying over our heads like clouds on a windy day never to return.
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Denis, many thanks for taking the time to leave such a wonderful comment. It has enriched this post beautifully. I am also very sorry for your loss. Please do stop by again. Warm Regards.
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Marie, you are so right. Now is the important time.
I have watched many who put off living until…..! Alas, the until….. never came. A neighbour of ours when I was growing up kept putting things off ‘until her husband retired’. He did get to retire, but she never saw the day, she died following a stroke three weeks before the day of until! That taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten. As a friend of mine says ‘ None of us are promised tomorrow, or even the remainder of today’!
Live every moment!
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