How Much Life is in Your Years?

The day after Thanksgiving, I eagerly sprung out of bed, my head spinning with a deluge of thoughts about all the things that I wanted to accomplish.

A mix of excitement and anxiety swirled through me, I reminded myself that my number one value and priority was “inspiration and creativity,” and therefore to do my morning meditation before jumping into action. "First things first," I told myself as I sat on my cushion, I felt my body slowly relax and my mind return to being present.

During those 15-minutes of quiet time I identified the source of my anxiety. My brain had been barking orders to take advantage of the “extra day” to catch up on house cleaning, squeeze in some admin work that had accumulated and to pay bills.  But my heart yearned for simplicity and connection.

I allowed the internal mix of thoughts, emotions and body sensations to exist while I went downstairs to make a cup of tea. My husband was up early and invited me to hang out and connect for a moment. Our conversation wasn’t deep or profound, just simple re-plays and reminiscing from the previous day.

After our conversation ended my husband had left the house, the sun began peek out from behind the mountains. Our 14-year-old son was still asleep. My heart skipped and danced a beat as I grabbed a blanket, my cup of tea and opened the window shades to indulge in a special, unexpected moment of gazing out to the hills and morning sunrise, and a chance to be doing absolutely nothing.

Sitting there I was reminded that while I can spend time and energy planning for, and creating special moments, events and interesting experiences for myself and my family, that in fact it’s often the moments that pass quietly during the day, like friendly ghosts in the night that are rich and meaningful in and of themselves. These daily moments don’t involve any efforting or fabrication to make them happen. These are the moments that if I blink will pass me by, unannounced and unaware, while I am busy chasing down dreams and making plans for some exciting someday future.

My ongoing intention is to keep my eyes open to fully experience and embrace simple, meaningful moments like sipping tea with my loved one and sitting quietly in the sunshine.

JUST FOR TODAY

I will not rush blindly to the next thing, action, task or event - but instead look for and embrace the simple quiet moments and the beauty in front of me, while being present with the people I am with.

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

                                                                                      -Abraham Lincoln

P.S. Print off this page and place the image quote on your desk to serve as a reminder to live more life in your years, today.