By VERNA BROCK
Last week I wrote about how we can fully live in the moments of our lives. It seems we spend our limited existence trying to balance life’s demands with its rewards. The goal may be to live a deeply conscious life, but we always seem squeezed into focusing on mundane tasks like paying bills and doing daily chores.
So what steps can we take to preserve our peace of mind? How do we shift the emphasis from barely surviving day to day, to living every moment?
For me, finding ways to express myself creatively is extremely satisfying. Writing and painting classes have been great ways for me to meet new people while exercising my creative muscles. Singing in my church choir is spiritually and emotionally fulfilling, and I look forward to joining others in worship through harmony.
Gardening is another way I center myself. There is something therapeutic for me in digging, weeding and planting. It is one of the best ways I know to completely lose myself in the moment. The scent of freshly turned soil, the feel of dirt under my spade, and the satisfaction of seeing a newly planted flower bed are hard to beat!
I have a close friend who finds peace sitting at a sewing machine creating beautiful works of art. Another prefers cooking and baking, yet another loves horseback riding.
Walking, birdwatching, enjoying music, reading, knitting (the list goes on and on) are all activities that require us to take a beat, and slow down. No one ever crocheted a beautiful afghan in a hurry!
I remember sitting with my grandmother on her front porch, rocking and shelling peas. No one was in a rush, we just sat with bowls in our laps and chatted while popping those shiny black-eyed peas from their pods. The rhythm of our hands matched the rocking, while dinner grew closer with every pop.
So many of my favorite memories center around the moments spent with the people I love. When I was a little girl, everything seemed to move at a much slower pace. Part of that was because it was a different time, with less technology to distract us. Part of it was because I had fewer responsibilities as a child. But didn’t it seem like an eternity til Christmas would arrive each year?
I confess, I often miss that simpler time in my life. Don’t we all? But despite today’s breakneck hurtle through life, we still have the power within us to slow down and genuinely appreciate the world around us.
All of us have memory-making moments every day of our lives. The secret is to recognize them as they happen, and hold them close.
Decide to cherish every minute, and savor the sweetness.