Loving the Now

Were you ever involved in a treasure hunt when you were a kid?
When I was eight I was a highly skilled hunter of treasure.
So much good stuff to find …and so little time.
I was particularly good when there was food to be found.

There’s a shock.

I remember the feeling of excitement in my stomach as the other kids and I would listen to the instructions and hints from some silly grown-up.

I remember standing there looking at the yard thinking, “I can’t see any treasure at all.”

Guess that’s why we had to hunt for it.

When I stood back and looked… it just seemed like any yard.
But when I got off my butt and started to search for treasure, it was there.

Lucky for me someone pointed out that there was treasure to be found.

The obvious metaphor out of this story is that our life is that yard.

Why is it that we spend so much time looking over our neighbour’s fence when our own yard is full of amazing stuff.
It’s just that we never look for it.
We take it for granted.
We don’t appreciate it.
We always want more when we don’t appreciate the plenty that we already have.

It’s great to have goals and it’s smart to have a plan for our future.
And us P.D. types are always talking about creating our best life.
Which is good.
As a rule.

But one of the dangers of being totally focused on what we can be and do.. is that we run the risk of missing out on the joy of what we have in our life right now.
Unless you’re the exception to the rule, then right now there are many ‘gifts’ in your life (friends, family, health, nature) that you don’t enjoy… the way you could.
Right now… you’re missing out.

Sometimes we’re so all-about tomorrow that we’re never really enjoy today.
The now (where we live).

If there’s a potential down-side to personal development I think it’s the fact that we can become so driven, so all-about-what-we-can-become, that (1) we can annoy the crap out of everyone in our life who isn’t on the same page as us (2) we lose sight of, and appreciation for, what we do have right now and (3) we are in danger of losing perspective on what’s really important and what our values (what’s important to us) really are.

Have you ever met anyone who is so focused on their future …. or so angry, bitter or resentful about their past that they never seem to enjoy their… now?

They don’t seem to have that ability which allows them to savour what they have at this point in time. And the irony is that so many people who don’t enjoy or appreciate what they have, or where they are, are the first ones to desperately want it all back when it’s taken from them.

I have a friend who lives in the States.
We see each other every year or two and email once a month.
We have known each other for twenty years or so and for the whole time that I’ve known her she has constantly bitched about her mum (mom) and pointed out to me her many faults and shortcomings.
Why and how her mum has made her life a challenge (misery).

I got an email from her just before Christmas.

Sadly, her mum had just passed away unexpectedly.
I have spoken to her by phone three times since.
She is devastated.

What does she want? Her mum back.
Who does she desperately miss? Her mum.
What does she regret? Not appreciating her mum and acknowledging the good stuff.
What would she do to have one more day with her mum? Anything.

All of a sudden she’s beginning to understand that, although her mum wasn’t perfect… she was actually a normal, loving, caring mum who did the best that she could with what she had and what she knew.

Her mum was a gift.

If only she bothered to look for the treasure in her own back yard.

Why don’t you do a treasure hunt on your own life right now and rejoice in what you have… and stop looking over that fence for a minute.

Why don’t you tell one of your treasures why you love them and how much you appreciate and need them.
Humble yourself.
Swallow your pride.
Put your ego aside and stop waiting.
Do something amazing.
Do something that’s not comfortable… but is right.

I’ve made a decision to not only create a great future… but to love the now.

You with me?

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