Today's
Meditation:
Right
here, right now. That really is all that we know
that we have. It's all around us, just waiting for
us to notice it and appreciate it and revel in its
wonder. It's very easy to miss, though-- if we get
caught up in worrying or focusing on something that keeps
us unaware of our surroundings, we just might not notice
any of the wonder that surrounds us right now.
I
have a trick that I use when I start to feel that I'm
losing touch with the here and now. I stop and I
find something to focus on. It's easy to notice a
tree and then move on to something else, but I force
myself to stick with the tree, noticing the bark, the
branches, the leaves, the light all over it. It's
easy to move on then, too, but then I try to remind myself
that the tree is processing water and sunlight in order to
grow and survive. If it's summer and the leaves are
out, that tree is even producing the oxygen that I need to
stay alive myself.
When
I finally do look to the next thing, it's easier to see
just how amazing it is. The car that's made of
hundreds of parts, the building that's the result of the
work of hundreds of people, the road that connects where I
am with almost anywhere else in this country--everything
around us has a touch of the miraculous to it, but it's up
to me to recognize it if I want to appreciate truly the
wondrous mystery of the here and now, and of life.
Don't
miss it. I've already missed a lot myself, so I do
my best not to miss any more. I still do, of course,
but as I see more and more I know that I'm missing less
and less.
|