The present is the only time you can enjoy.
Please discuss. How does this play out in life?
I’ll start us out. COVID-19 caught us by surprise. In very short order, our lives were altered and rearranged. Many things we relied on shifted, and often in ways we might not have chosen. The limitations on personal interactions, whether voluntary or not, have been particularly taxing. People are social animals and we have sorely missed being with our pack. Restrictions have lifted in some areas, but life still is not back to “normal.”
We may think longingly of past activities that are currently out of scope—a large wedding celebration, a European vacation, a music concert—but the sense of lack evoked doesn’t make us happy. Or we may dream of these things being possible again in the future, focused on what we cannot have right now. Either way, we suck the joy out of the present. What’s occurring right now may not be what we planned or would choose, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be good, perhaps in unexpected and surprising ways.
Today’s message reminds me to savor the present, every possible morsel of it. The present, as it is, is what I have and what is currently on offer in my life. I can elect how I want to receive/perceive it. The more I find happiness in what is, the more I am open to noticing all the good things, large and small, in and around me. Today I cultivate the joy of the possible.
How about you? How do you find enjoyment in the moment?