The only time we ever have is NOW. Even when the future arrives, we begin to live it in the present moment, which is always NOW. Yet so many of our present moments are squandered with thoughts of the past or the future.
Ruminating and mulling over the past, which cannot be changed – robs us of the present moment. Day dreaming of the future, which is never guaranteed – robs us of the present moment.
Our mind often swings back and forth like a pendulum between past and future thoughts, keeping us from fully experiencing and living life now. When we silence the mental chatter by breathing deeply and opening ourselves up to experience the moment fully, we become aware of our true self and the loving presence behind the ‘thinker’. We begin to connect more deeply with life and the people we share our experience with.
Each moment is new and fresh. Old habits begin to fall away as we recognise ourselves and the world we live in as ever changing, ever evolving, ever new.
We are limitless. Life is limitless. And the time to live is NOW.
Today, breathe and enjoy the moment fully. Trust that you can experience love, peace and gratitude in this very moment.
Nothing is promised. Not even time. The only thing we ever really have is Now – this moment. This may account for all of the frantic grasping and scrambling we do in our lives. We fear we have no time. But worry never serves to get us ahead. Quite the opposite. It robs us of the only time we’ll ever have – the present.
When we try to do or have it all at once, we soon lose momentum. So take your time and breathe. Choose one thing to do and do it well. It is what you do now that counts.
How fully immersed are you in this moment? When out having coffee with a friend, are you delighting in the exchange or thinking of the lawns that need mowing at home? When you are mowing the lawns, are you savouring the scent of the freshly cut grass or wishing you were out having coffee with a friend?
Too often we are distracted from what we are doing and wishing our time away on thoughts of next next next.
Slow down. Know that you have time. Trust that it is alright to move at a gentler pace. Supportive doors will open for you when you surrender control to what is. Let go. Refrain from trying to control outcomes.
Yes – it is important we dedicate time to working on our dreams, yet we must also balance this with time for play, time alone, as well as time spent with loved ones and friends. In doing so, we see the world with new eyes.
Today, breathe and enjoy the moment. Have faith that there is ‘a time to every purpose under the heaven.’
Welcome to my seventeenth instalment of ‘Soulful Sundays’. A weekly share where I post a roundup of soulful reflections, each including recipes, songs, quotes, blogs I have read and/or any other inspirational discoveries to sooth the soul.
For me, Sunday’s have become a day of quiet contemplation and simple pleasures. A time to reflect on the week gone by and to consider my hopes and dreams for the week ahead.
My hope is to extend some love outward and to share some simple pleasures with anyone who cares to receive them.
Soul Reflections
If we stop for a moment and take a look around, we begin to realise just how lucky we are. This life is pretty wonderful. So why do so many of us delay our happiness?
“…I’ll go on holiday once I’ve tended to the house repairs…” “…When I have more money I’ll be able to do the things I want to do…” “…I’ll look for love when I’m not so busy and have more time…” “…When I retire I’ll pursue my creative passions…” No no no people. The time to live is NOW.
There are no ‘perfect moments’ or ‘right times’ to begin living our lives. Life is far too precious to place on hold for one more day. Our aim is to participate in life in ways that are meaningful and fulfilling. It needn’t be something extraordinary, it could be as simple as watching the sun set, stroking your pet, laughing freely with another whilst goofing about. We each value different things, beliefs vary from one person to the next, but at our core we all wish for the same; peace, abundance, connection, joy, love, freedom, passion, purpose and a sense of belonging…
Each moment is precious. Each moment is sacred. Even the most mundane tasks can be accomplished with a sense of grace and gratitude. When we delay our happiness we fall under the false notion that our time here on earth is limitless – that our happiness is ‘out there’ somewhere waiting for us in the future. But as Henry James reminds us: ‘The right time is any time that one is still lucky as to have…LIVE!”
Soul Strolls
It’s a wee bit drizzly here in Melbourne today, but I managed to capture these pretty white Jasmine flowers whilst out strolling yesterday. These smell wonderful in the evening, like nature’s pure-fume. Delightful.
Soul Food
With the cooler weather I tend to turn to comforting foods, such as stews and soups. Which is why I made this delicious Chunky Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup. It’s healthy, healing and tastes delicious! I hope it warms your tum 🙂
Soul Music
I think this song is pretty fitting for today’s post – I hope you’ll all be rocking out to it as much as I just did. Go on – I dare ya! 😉
Soul Sisters
Today I am sharing Nina’s post Life Is Good When There Is Love. She embodies this weeks Soulful Sunday’s post with grace and gratitude. Live. Be in the moment. Love. Find the magic in the simple. Head over and have a read!
Wishing you all a simple yet extraordinary Sunday!
Nothing is promised. Not even time. The only thing we ever really have is Now – this moment. This may account for all of the grasping and scrambling and frantic worrying we do in our lives. We fear we have no time. But that never serves to get us ahead. Quite the opposite. It only robs us of the only time we’ll ever have – the present.
When we try to do or have it all at once, we soon lose momentum. So take your time and breathe. It is what we do Now that counts. How fully immersed are we in this moment? When out having coffee with friend, are we delighting in the exchange or thinking of the lawns that need mowing at home? When we are mowing the lawns, are we savouring the scent of the freshly cut grass or wishing we were out having a coffee with a friend? Too often we are distracted from what we are doing and wishing our time away on thoughts of next next next.
Slow down. Know that you have time. Trust that it is alright to advance towards your dreams at a gentler pace, that supportive doors will open for you when you surrender control to what is. Let go. Refrain from trying to control outcomes or attempting to do everything at once. Instead, choose one thing to do and do it well. Yes – it is important we dedicate time to working on our dreams, yet we must also balance this with time for play and laughter, alone time, as well as time spent with loved ones and friends.
Today, breathe and enjoy the moment. Have faith that there is ‘a time to every purpose under the heaven.’
Considering I am currently a week behind most on the Writing 101 course, I guess I fall safely into the category of ‘little time to write’ as opposed to the ‘I need a break from my full-time writing schedule’ category. I wish I did fall into the latter group of full-time writers – writers whose dedication and commitment to their practice requires them to set multiple alarms to remind them when to eat, go pee and just, well, live – those writers who write so often that it’s hard to tell where human ends and keyboard begins… I hope, one day, that is me. (The writing often part, not the physically merging into my keyboard bit…)
Cheri at WordPress asks those of us struggling to find the time to write to consider these questions:
If you could step into a machine that gave you more time, how would you structure your day?
I am currently experiencing a busy period of my life, one which I hope will begin to settle somewhat in the New Year. This year has seen us prepare for our big move to the other side of the world in January. Due to the timings of lease ends and availability of rentals in Oxfordshire, we have had three temporary house moves in the last three months, have a fourth this weekend, and then a fifth move which will take me home to Manchester where I will spend Christmas and New Year with friends and family, all before the final move to Australia in 2016. With this in mind, I would certainly like to use a time machine, if only to tackle the mundane to-do list that comes with packing up your life. With the extra time, I would use my evenings to indulge in my favourite pastimes with more regularity rather than fleetingly. Some of those include; cooking, yoga, sketching, meditation and writing, (and hopefully dog walking, once I can convince my partner that a puppy called Spencer is exactly what we need in our lives!)
What would you write with this extra time?
For a start, I would keep on top of this Writing 101 course, making sure that I complete the daily prompts daily and not every four to five days as I have been doing. I also have a burning desire to bring my children’s book series to life, a long standing idea of mine which I am eager to finally bring to fruition, if only for myself and my own sanity. I wish to write a book to help others to heal through adversity and pain. I would quite like to explore poetry a little more since I found it to be extremely therapeutic during the recent Poetry 101 course. Finally, I’d like to begin to use this blog for the purpose that it was created; letters to my Dad xx
How do you free up time to write during times of upheaval or change?
Dear Dad 