Okay… more on this “present moment” stuff! It really is amazing the number of insights that come up regarding how I take myself out of the present. However, I also need to start by saying… These insights don’t come to me while I am being present. No. They come to me after I realize something has already taken me out of the moment.

It goes something like this:

I am having my morning coffee, watching birds drink and play in a fountain outside my front window. I am only a few feet away, yet seem invisible to them. I look past this beauty to the front yard. The way the sun is hitting the shrubs and flowers along the walkway. I look around at our beautiful home and I am content. Feeling blessed, I silently whisper my gratitude to the Universe for this amazing life.

About this time my adorable husband brings me a refill of hot coffee and joins me. We begin a conversation about our day. It’s a Sunday so we’re both technically ‘off’. We begin to imagine what we might like to do with this beautiful day.

And somewhere in my mind.., I long for more. I want something to be different. I think that if I do or get these few things or make this change.., everything in my life will be “perfect”!

Wow!

The insight hits me! “I am no longer present”.

Longing for or wanting anything different than what is happening in the current moment is a message to the Universe that my beautiful life is not enough! It is one way I take myself out of the moment.

It is impossible to be in a state of gratitude AND simultaneously want something different than what, where or how you are!

For me this is an ongoing and often subtle dance. Being present… then distracting myself with futures or pasts that minimize the potency of the moment. Diluting the richness and fullness by wanting to add some unknown, imagined, or elusive substance. Thinking that I will enjoy the flavor of life MORE when things look different than they do in the current moment.

Life is already full of flavor.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming and envisioning new futures. It is how we create the present. But there is a time for that. For me I would rather intentionally set aside time to activate and use my imagination as a way to open and expand pathways to new futures.

In the meantime.., I want to be engaged with the present moment!

The good news is I am becoming more aware. These insights about how I take myself out of the moment are becoming more obvious, simply by staying present!  Well…actually I should say when I notice I am no longer ‘in the moment’ and reflect on where my mind has taken me!!

One other note to self! Of all the generating emotions ‘Gratitude’ is the most powerful in terms of the law of attraction. It is impossible to be grateful while our thoughts and emotions are stuck in the past or the future. A reminder that ‘staying present’ is worth it!

With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles