Make the Most of Every Moment
Stop sweating the small stuff and focus on what matters most.
Stick with me on this, I promise it will end well.
We live in a fantasy.
The fantasy is a fairy tale where no one dies. That only happens in someone else’s story, in some other time, in some other place.
Not now. Not today. Not to us.
We pretend that life can be an idyllic existence where things don’t change, or if they change, they only change for the better. In this sunny alternate reality, things only get better and better.
Better job. Better home. Better life.
We work our butts off to achieve this impossible fantasy. Building a career, raising a family, creating a legacy in a vain attempt to do an end-run around our mortality.
Do we really believe in our Utopian plans? Nope. All of our plans and prayers, our wishes and affirmations can’t hide the fact that we’re deluding ourselves.
We’re hiding from the scary, scary truth: Everything grows old, decays and dies.
Reality Check
It’s stressful, ignoring reality 24×7. It puts a lot of pressure on you. After all, if you can actually achieve that magical fantasy, then you can also screw it up.
Every decision becomes so important. It can make you frantic and more than a little crazy.
It sure had that effect on me.
It made me a time-challenged, chronically stressed woman. It drove me to perfectionism and focused my time on things that contributed little to my happiness. It ratcheted up my anxiety and fear to an oppressive, hamster-in-a-wheel level that was nothing short of silly.
So much wasted energy, so much wasted time and it didn’t change a thing.
Life happens. Tragedy strikes. The world turns.
There is only the moment. That’s all there ever was. And the moment is enough.
The Moment Is Enough
Here’s the good news. Most of the things we cram our lives full of just don’t matter.
The stain in the living room carpet? It doesn’t matter.
The driver that cut you off on the way to work? Insignificant.
Your endless attempts to recapture your 20-something body? Nobody cares.
Set aside the fantasy, the plans, the goals, the diets, the schedule, the lists, the hectic rush.
Just stop. Breathe. Be.
When you live in the moment, the beauty of the world rushes in and seizes your heart. You, a tiny, insignificant part of an unimaginably vast universe, are alive.
This is what they’ve been trying to teach us, the poets and the prophets, the artists and the healers, the wise and the awake. This is it. You breathe in, you breathe out and it’s gone, never to come again.
This is all there is, and it is so damn beautiful.
I promised you a happy ending and here it is: Everything we need or could possibly want is within our grasp. Every moment, every day, a gift.
Living for Today
Today I will look in my beautiful daughter’s eyes and enjoy her for who she is. This moment will never come again.
Today I will laugh at my son’s clever jokes and revel in our smiles. This moment will never come again.
Today I will reach for my husband’s hand and enjoy the warmth of his touch. This moment will never come again.
Today I will feel the earth beneath my feet and tilt my face to the sun. I will revel in the sensation of being alive, here, now.
This moment is all that matters.
It is enough.
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Thank you, Jane. I really enjoyed reading that and could relate to everything you said. Well said. Well done. Will look forward to your next post. Until then I will try to stay in the moment and enjoy.
Thank you, Jane! Beautiful and inspiring.
Beautiful…❤️
No words are more true. Enjoy the now. Love you Jane.
This is just exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Thank you Jane. ❤️