Living in the ‘now’

Living in the ‘now’ is living in the present. Think about it, ‘now’ is a ‘present’. I can’t do anything about yesterday or tomorrow but I can make the most of this moment in life now.

For the last couple of years I have really been more conscious of the active decision to do my best to be true to living in the ‘now’ and being grateful for the fact that now is a present worth cherishing.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t prepare for the future. I go to work to make a living to pay my rent and I tend to be the sort of person prepared for unexpected situations that may arise. This doesn’t mean I focus on the preparation it’s just that being prepared is a part of of my well-being.. I don’t worry about what could go wrong I just focus on making the most of now. A friend of mine gave some good advice to consider: “Worry is ingratitude in advnce” Advance worry – such a waste!

Recently I had a situation. My vehicle was in the body shop and the work was done on a Friday. The shop owner convinced me that I should come Saturday even though he was only open a half day. He swore that he was open to noon every Saturday. I live 3 hours north of the body shop and in the back of my mind I was preferring the idea of going down on Monday not Saturday but I had told him I would come. I drove for 2 hours before I get any phone reception so I left before 9 am and called him as a soon as I got reception which put me about an hour away from his shop. There was no answer so I left a message reminding him I would be there before noon.

You guessed it! He was closed when I arrived (at 1130). I couldn’t believe I had just driven 3 hours only to have to turn around and drive home and repeat the experience on Monday! My first reaction was disbelief. My second reaction was – be grateful for the moment. Something good is available to you right now if you don’t let thoughts of indignation or frustration cloud the good experience waiting for you. I tend to feel like every experience no matter how bad it may seem does have a blessing awaiting if you are receptive.

Once I realised hanging around the shop would not do any good I headed over to the marina I used to live at and met up with friends very spontaneously for dinner. My dogs were home and as much as I love them it was nice to have a time when I could focus on those around me as opposed to always having a watchful eye out.

So the funny thing about this post; I’ve been writing it for a few days because I just started randomly thinking about the way my outlook has changed over the last couple of years. Yesterday a facebook memory popped up that is exactly in line with my train of thought so here you go:

This is a quote that I put on my Facebook timeline 8 years ago. Still true today and I am doing better at living it today.

“Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.”― Leo Buscaglia

I know there are some who will have a comment to say about what about the really bad experiences what good could come from them. I’ve experienced some of those very bad experiences, The typical ones most women have experienced in their youth from some pervert, I’ve witnessed death and horrors of war, I’ve dealt with debilitating physical injuries that had me crippled for months. I didn’t see much good in those experiences at the time I can assure you and I would not want to repeat them but there is good that has come from those experiences for me and I am a better person as a result of what I have learned from those experiences. All I can stick with at the end of the day is the desire to make each day a better day. I’m not the one making the day better I’m one of the ones availing myself of the fact the there is goodness available in every day if you let it (not make it but let it) reveal itself to you.