The gift of today

I am fully present in the moment

I wonder sometimes how much of my day I spend living outside the reality of right now.  I am capable of filling my thoughts almost constantly with something other than what I am doing or where I am.  What would life be like if I lived each moment fully present with myself and my surroundings? 

At this time of year it is easy for me to get lost in the nostalgia of the past, or wallow in the memory of some recent mistake.  My memories of those moments seem to get distorted and less realistic as time goes by.  I not only get stuck in the past but I get caught up in the worry of tomorrow.
"What lingering items on my mental to-do list are still incomplete?"
"What if ____________ happens or _____________ doesn't work out?"
I can even disregard everything that is currently happening in my life to focus on the greener pastures of tomorrow.  It doesn't necessarily matter if my thought of yesterday and tomorrow are for good or ill, in both cases I am living outside the reality of today.

The days I spend living in the past or future seem to fade away leaving me with no memories created or lessons learned, they become wasted.  The experiences that often make the biggest difference as I walk my path are the ones I never see coming and that I can only internalize if I am present and ready to receive it.  I can not change yesterday and nothing I do can control the future and that is why it has been said: today is a gift and that is why it's called the present.

Today I will awaken my senses to experience all the beauty around me.
I will set aside the worries of yesterday and tomorrow.
I will breath deeply and ground myself in the moment.
I will receive the gift of today with gratitude and honor it in the only way possible, living it fully.