{"id":1496,"date":"2021-08-18T17:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T21:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2021-08-18T17:00:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T21:00:39","slug":"being-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2021\/08\/18\/being-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buddhist leader and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says, \u201cLife is available only in the present moment.\u201d What does <\/span>being present<\/span><\/i> mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is easy to be befuddled by the future, the deadlines and due dates, the <\/span>things that might happen.<\/span><\/i> Sometimes we exhaust ourselves by living in the future, and through this exhaustion, we miss the present moment\u2014the green of the grass, the slight movement of leaves, the laughter of our loved ones, the person sitting across from us at the table. We rob ourselves of living in the here and now. This very moment is impermanent. Let us not waste it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I once heard a woman say, \u201cKnow when you are in a good moment. Know when things are good.\u201d Yes, we often have brilliant experiences, flashes of wonder, that we let pass without acknowledging. Maybe we are looking at our planners or mobile phones. Maybe we are thinking about our next vacation. Whatever occupies our minds can take us away from the present, but there are so many treasures in the here and now. Think about these treasures. We spot a bluebell or catch a glimpse of a fleeting hummingbird. We see a baby take its first steps or a lonely person\u2019s face blossom into a smile at our <\/span>hello<\/span><\/i>. What could happen if we slowed down our lives and held on to those precious experiences? Would our lives be more fulfilling? I say that we owe it to ourselves to be present in this gift of living, to take in all the love and joy we are offered and hold it deep inside our being.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being present is not easy. We forget to pause and to be. What it takes, dear reader, is giving yourself permission to rest, to turn off the invading thoughts about to do-lists, and to take a deep breath. Feel yourself being in the moment. Acknowledge the gift of existence. Take in the beauty of the world. I am not advocating for abandoning responsibilities; rather, I am saying to have balance. You can work and exist in a busy world and still make time to be present. Life is about balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLife is available in the present moment.\u201d The past is gone, and the future has yet to arrive. Our existence is happening now. The people who enrich our lives are here now. Let us remember to be present, to see each moment, even the hard ones, as a blessing for we are here breathing, living. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Buddhist leader and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says, \u201cLife is available only in the present moment.\u201d What does being present mean? It is easy to be befuddled by the future, the deadlines and due dates, the things that …<\/p>\n

Being Present<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-o8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}