I started my birthday celebrations off with a bang yesterday at a luncheon given by my friend Rose. She made the most delicious quiche any of us had ever had. It was about a two and a half inch high tower of moist, fluffy, cheesy delight with a hint of bacon, tomatoes and herbs, crowned with a flaky to-die-for crust. Paired with a very tasty salad and finished with a desert specialty of hers that is a trifle-like meringue concoction rolled in sugared toasted almonds served with fresh berries. Seated around her beautifully set table, in her impeccable home it was our group of six who work out in the same classes several times a week. Truly a perfect way to approach the dawn of seventy-one years! In my blog entry last May 9th I mentioned these ladies and how much incentive it added that at least some of us go downstairs for tea and a good chat after we work out.
When
I started this blog a year ago, it was with the awareness that time was growing
exceedingly precious. Of course, time has always been precious; age has just
put a spotlight on it. It’s my awareness
of this that has intensified, and it’s by keeping this on my daily radar that I
can fulfill the plan I made: to create as much heaven as I can for myself and
others as I move closer to the top of the stairway. The gift I can give myself everyday is to
remember Lazy Woman’s Commandment # 2,
and “live the moment you are living, while you are living it.”
Sound
simple? This is not as easy as it
sounds. It’s the subject of books and
workshops, at the core of Buddhist meditations, and explained in detail by Eckhart
Tolle in “The Power of Now.” His account
of how the ego views the present moment is a perfect description of the path my
mind will take, if I don’t stop it in its tracks! “To the ego, the present moment is, at best,
only useful as a means to an end. It
gets you to some future moment that is considered more important, even though
the future never comes except as the present moment and is therefore never more
than a thought in your head. In other
words, you are never fully here because you are always busy trying to get
elsewhere.” When it senses a looming
problem, my mind becomes fixated on trying to figure out what’s coming next so
that I will be prepared to avert a crisis.
Or maybe I think that “preparing” myself for a negative outcome will
make bad news easier to take. Or maybe
I’m just in a judging frenzy about how a project is going, or how someone else
is performing. Then there is the annoyed
mind, where other drivers, noisy diners, loud cell phone talkers on the train,
or rude people in cramped spaces have me all wound up. This is an exhausting way to live when the
present moment is gobbled up by fear, frustration or irritation.
The
challenge is with the how to stay in
the present moment, and the how is built on day-to-day awareness. How will I get my mind in check when I start
to get caught up in the future or dragged into re-writing yesterday? My mind needs to be reminded to stay in the
present regularly, so I try to start the day with prayers and meditation to get
me headed in the right direction. I also
keep notes with reminders on the fridge door, in my car, in pockets and purses,
so throughout the day I can regroup. I
print things like the Serenity Prayer or Lazy Woman’s Guide Commandments “This too shall pass,” “you are resting in the
hands of God (the universe),” “you can either be right or happy” - and
to really shift focus #6 “put your
attention outside of yourself.” I
do something to draw my attention outside of my thoughts. If I take action in the garden, with my
animals, helping someone with something, really
noticing the beauty all around me - in the sky, dew on leaves, the colors
of the vegetables I am cutting – I become more present in the moment. The
present moment is only available
RIGHT NOW! Revel in it, ease into it –
and if it’s a difficult one, try to relax and breathe. Don’t put fear, and anxiety about what’s
next, on top of what’s already difficult.
This moment is your life! It’s the only one you can guarantee. I thank God for the precious present.
today of its strength.” A.J. Cronin
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| Rufus, The Doggie Lama, brings the peace. |
